Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would separate its Teams chat and video app from its Office product and make it simpler for rival products to integrate with its software. However, opponents claimed that Microsoft may need to take more steps to avoid a potential EU antitrust charge.

The proposed modifications came a month after the European Commission opened an investigation into Microsoft’s integration of Office and Teams in response to a complaint made by the rival workspace messaging service Slack, which is owned by Salesforce.

The actions Microsoft outlined on Thursday were a continuation of earlier compromises that had not been sufficient to allay regulatory worries. The EU competition enforcer acknowledged having read the company’s announcement but chose not to comment further.

If the company doesn’t improve its offer, the Commission might file formal charges against it in the autumn, individuals with knowledge of the situation told Reuters last month.

Teams was a free addition to Office 365 in 2017. Because of its video conferencing, it gradually took the position of Skype for Business and grew in popularity across the pandemic.

“Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission’s investigation continues and we cooperate with it,” Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft’s vice president for European government affairs said in a blogpost.

The customer should be able to choose a business suite without Teams at a lower price than those with Teams included, she said, and we should do more to facilitate interoperability between competing communication and collaboration solutions and Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites.

The modifications will be applicable in the EU and Switzerland starting on October 1.

The majority of Microsoft’s commercial clients in Europe, known as the company’s core enterprise clients, will be able to convert to an Office edition without Teams for a cost that is two euros less per month than with Teams. Teams can be purchased solo and independently by new enterprise clients for 5 euros per month.

Customers and independent software providers who want to remove data from Teams and use it in another product will have access to new support resources.

Similar to what it does with Teams, Microsoft will also create a new strategy for hosting the Office web applications within rival services and applications.

Owner of Slack, Salesforce, claimed it had nothing further to say.

Rivals claim that as it is, Microsoft’s offer is unlikely to satisfy the EU antitrust authority.

“This is playing to the gallery. I don’t think the Commission will appreciate it. There is nothing incremental in the offer,” an industry source said.

The stakes are high for the American technology behemoth, which in the previous decade accrued 2.2 billion euros ($2.40 billion) in EU antitrust fines for linking or bundling two or more goods together but has subsequently pursued a more accommodative approach with authorities.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)