Germany's Competition Watchdog Labels Microsoft As 'Paramount Cross-market Significance'

On Monday, Germany's Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) declared that Microsoft had been designated as a 'company with paramount cross-market significance for competition.' This designation allows the agency to take more strict action against the software behemoth, citing the growing integration and ubiquity of Microsoft's products across other industries.

Andreas Mundt, head of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that the ecosystem's pervasive reach, saying, "Microsoft's many products are ubiquitous and indispensable in companies, public authorities, and private households." This designation links Microsoft with other tech behemoths such as Apple, Google and Meta, implying more regulatory scrutiny across the board.

The cartel office's expanded powers enable it to impose tougher monitoring on Microsoft's operations, including potential prohibitions on anti-competitive behaviour. A spokeswoman for Microsoft responded by saying, “We recognise our responsibility to support a healthy competitive environment and we will strive to be proactive, collaborative and responsible in working with the Bundeskartellamt.”

This development comes after the European Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in June, accusing the company of unfairly tying its Teams software with its Office suite, undermining competitors such as Slack. The Bundeskartellamt stressed that its new regulatory powers will apply to Microsoft as a whole, rather than just certain services or products.