Politics Tech-stuff · 12 June 2008 ·
The irony is...
Reading news can be dull. It can be distressing, if it’s bad news. But from time to time you might find something to laugh about.
I almost got a laugh flash whilst reading the news. German news magazine Heise Online writes about the inquiry by Heide Rühle and Alain Lipietz (both MEPs for the Greens/EFA) whether Microsoft would need to be excluded from public procurement procedures.1 What has happened? In 2004, the European Comission declared that Microsoft had “violated EU competition rules by abusing its dominant position in the software market.”2 The Court of First Instance rejected Microsoft’s apeal and imposed the highest fine in its history—€ 899 million for Microsoft’s non-compliance. Now, Microsoft being Microsoft does not have a problem with money. But, as Rühle and Lipietz point out the European regulation on public procurement procedures states that companies…
“…shall be excluded from participation in procurement procedures if: ‘b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata; c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify.’”
Thus they inquired whether this does also apply to Microsoft. The news itself are bad. Microsoft will not be excluded from public procurement procedures. This is because the mentioned regulation is only a recommendation. Also, it does not define “grave professional misconduct” and requires a further ruling by the European Court of Justice in a specific case.1,3 But—guess how the Commission’s decision was published? As Microsoft Word Document!
1 Relph-knight, Terry: European Commission won’t exclude Microsoft from procurement procedures, Heise Online, 12 June 2008
2 Parliamentary questions, Writen Question by Heide Rühle (Verts/ALE) and Alain Lipietz (Verts/ALE) to the Commission, 21 April 2008
3 The European Comission, E-2295/08EN, Answer given by Mrs Grybauskaite on behalf of the Commission, 9 June 2008
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