Brussels, 05/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - During her meeting with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, informed him of the Commission's decision to appoint the professor and information technology expert Neil Barrett as its representative, in charge of returning technical opinions on whether the American company is respecting the decision of March 2004 (by which Microsoft was obliged to divulge the specifications of certain Windows protocols). Mr Barrett was selected due to his skills and impartiality from a list of people proposed by Microsoft, according to a press release. His mandate, which takes effect immediately, allows him to consult with other experts in order to check that the there is a full application of the obligations imposed upon Microsoft in terms of interoperability (complete and correct divulgence of the source codes under reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions), and the tied-in sales (PC producers must be able to buy a version of Windows without the Media Player software). Although Microsoft has just started new legal proceedings against the European Commission on the interoperability obligations imposed upon it (EUROPE 9041), Ms Kroes declined to reveal the contents of the discussions, stating simply that the meeting had been "constructive" and that both parties would see each other again "regularly, every four months". She plans to "end our assessment (of the application of the remedies "very quickly", and said that she was "very firm" as to how the matter would proceed.