U.S. tech giant Microsoft on Thursday announced its decision to separate its chat and videoconference service Teams from its Microsoft 365 productivity suite. This move aims to address antitrust concerns raised by the European Union (EU).

Starting October 1st of this year, Microsoft will offer the packages without Teams at a discounted price, resulting in a €24 ($26) per year reduction in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss regions. Existing customers who already have a suite with Teams can choose to either retain their current package or migrate to a product without the videoconferencing app.

The Microsoft 365 bundle, formerly known as Office 365, previously emphasized Teams as the flagship app among its workplace-oriented offerings, which include Word and Excel. Teams was introduced in 2017 and gained popularity among users, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, as it facilitated text and video communication in the workplace. In March, Microsoft announced its plans to release a new version of Teams that would be twice as fast as its predecessor.

The EU initiated an antitrust investigation in July, focusing on Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with other Office products due to concerns about anti-competitive practices. This investigation, still ongoing, represents the first EU antitrust probe into Microsoft in over a decade. In 2020, Slack, a Teams competitor owned by Salesforce, filed a complaint with European authorities on grounds of competitiveness. Salesforce has not yet responded to ‘s request for comment.

EU officials expressed worries that Microsoft’s bundling strategy could provide Teams with a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice to exclude access to the product when subscribing to their productivity suites. Furthermore, they raised concerns about limited interoperability between Microsoft’s suites and competing offerings.

As part of its response, Microsoft pledged to enhance resources for interoperability between Microsoft 365 and Office 365. Additionally, the company will develop mechanisms to host Office web applications within competing apps and services.

“We appreciate the clarity that has emerged on several of the concerns from extensive and constructive discussions with the European Commission. With the benefit of this clarity, we believe it is important that we start to take meaningful steps to address those concerns,” stated Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President of Microsoft European Government Affairs, in a blog post on Thursday.

She added, “We believe these changes balance the interests of our competitors with those of European business customers, providing them with access to the best possible solutions at competitive prices.” Linde acknowledged that the EU investigation is still in its early stages.

A spokesperson for the EU responded to Microsoft’s announcement, saying, “We take note of Microsoft’s announcement. We have no further comment to make.”

In addition to the EU investigation, Microsoft is also facing scrutiny from regulators in the United Kingdom. The original plans for its acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard were blocked due to concerns about stifling competition in the emerging cloud gaming market. Microsoft recently submitted a new proposal for the acquisition, including fresh concessions. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will review the proposal and make a decision by October 18th.