09/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - During his visit to Madrid last Thursday, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, spoke of his conviction that the investigation currently being carried out by the European Commission into possible abuses of the IT company's dominant market position would lead to a solution which is "workable for everybody". The Commission "is not out to punish anybody, it is out to ensure that the citizens and the competitors doing business in Europe have an appropriate chance to flourish". The businessman also hopes that a frank and open dialogue with the Commission will resolve the outstanding problems. It is worth noting that last week, Philip Lowe, Director General of Competition at the Commission, gave to understand that the Microsoft dossier was still a cause for concern, and that there was no date for a decision as yet.