Microsoft settles the CISPE complaint for 20 million euros

2024-07-11 · Publisher : CISPE · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

Microsoft reaches an agreement with CISPE, the association of European cloud providers: 20 million euros, an Azure Stack HCI offer for hosters and an independent observatory, in exchange for withdrawing the complaint filed in 2022.

### Background On 11 July 2024, Microsoft announces an agreement with **CISPE** (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) that ends the antitrust complaint lodged with the European Commission at the end of 2022. The complaint alleged that licensing terms in force since 1 October 2022 were detrimental to European cloud providers. ### Key facts - Microsoft pays 20 million euros to settle the dispute. - Microsoft will develop a version of Azure Stack HCI for European hosters, letting them run Microsoft software on terms equivalent to its own. - CISPE members are compensated for lost revenue linked to licensing costs over the last two years. - CISPE sets up an independent observatory of the European cloud market to monitor implementation. - AWS, although a CISPE member, was left out of the negotiations and is not bound by the agreement. - The complaint dated from late 2022 and targeted the contractual terms Microsoft imposed from 1 October 2022. ### Why it matters The agreement is a signal for CIOs: licensing rules for office and server software weigh on the choice of host, well beyond infrastructure price. It did not silence critics, however, some seeing an arrangement reserved to CISPE members. The licensing issue was later taken up by Google (September 2024 complaint) and then by the Commission through the DMA. In July 2025, Microsoft offered new commercial terms to European hosters, after the observatory harshly judged the first implementation. ### Takeaway A first compromise on Microsoft licensing, limited to CISPE members and far from closing the file.

Tags : Licence, Europe, Multi-cloud, Azure, Hyperscaler