Brussels, 24/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - On the fringe of a hearing before the EP Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on 23 February, Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said in answer to a question as to whether an agreement with the US group Microsoft were still on the cards that "nothing is impossible". The Commissioner did not give a date for publication of a decision, that some would like end March, but did admit that he had a deadline in mind, saying: "I have a date but it's not public".
End January, Mr Monti had told MEPs that "time is short" for Microsoft, hinting that a preliminary decision would not be to the advantage of the US group. Microsoft has effectively much less wriggle room but continues to seek an acceptable compromise: two consultation sessions will be held in March between representatives of Member State governments in order to have their agreement on the draft decision prepared by competition services, before formal adoption of the decision by the College.
According to sources familiar with the issue, the European Commission is now ready to let Microsoft conduct its own negotiation on the way it wants to resolve competition problems, in order to avoid court action threatened by the American group. According to The Financial Times, Commissioner Bolkestein, responsible for internal market policy, is currently in close communication with Mario Monti in an attempt to avoid a decision that would force Microsoft to share information on its source codes for making its software compatible with competitive equipment. Such an obligation could in fact be denounced in court by the American group in the name of intellectual property rights, and legal action could turn against the European Executive. Jonathan Todd, spokesman for the Dutch Commissioner, confirmed that Mr Bolkestein was currently in discussion with Mario Monti on the subject of Microsoft, but he did not say what the discussions were about.