EU Commission: 20 years, Microsoft (without notice)

EU Commission: 20 years, Microsoft (without notice)

The European Commission will have a total of six times since 1993 in large scale Microsoft software and bought it without a public tender to the exclusion of potential competitors. The Computer Weekly reported, citing documents that are available to the news service. In the last agreement with Microsoft is about software licenses for 36,000 PCs, and supporting infrastructure in 42 European institutions, it has a circumference of 50 million €.

According to Computer Weekly has been used for the procurement of almost 20 years of special rules, which are actually intended for special circumstances. The General Directorate of computer science (DIGIT), which is responsible for the procurement had to purchase directly from Microsoft in 1992 on the grounds that no other provider could deliver the required software. After further direct purchases in 1996 and 1996, it should have then called in 2003, that alternative and incompatible software migration is too expensive.

A spokesman for the General Directorate of computer science, told Computer Weekly, the procurement guidelines were changed several times in the last 20 years. There are various methods by which software could be procured. Every purchase go before a thorough analysis of market situation and the needs of users. Here, the laws were always met. Just as Vice President DIGIT Maroš Šefčovič he stressed that the Commission is not dependent on Microsoft. The software manufacturer would not comment on the matter with Computer Weekly.