Oracle Is Facing EU Antitrust Music This WeekOracle Is Facing EU Antitrust Music This Week

Oracle Corp. continued to argue its case for acquiring PeopleSoft Inc. before the European Union Thursday, parading a bogeyman the EU has already decided really is a bogeyman: Microsoft.

EU antitrust regulators are looking at the financial and human-resources software market in Europe--a market dominated by Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP--but Oracle has been arguing the market is much wider, encompassing other companies, including Microsoft, according to press reports.

The Europeans are scheduled to make their decision by May 11. Microsoft maintains it is, at best, a minor player in the market dominated by Oracle and, further, has no near term plans to enter the market in question.

The EU has brought Germany's SAP into the investigation, stating: “The initial one-month investigation has shown that the combination of two of the largest competitors in the market merits further analysis, especially as the number of key players would be reduced from three to two--Oracle and SAP--in certain applications markets.”

The situation puts the U.S. Department of Justice in the somewhat awkward position of supporting Microsoft before the EU--it defends the earlier DOJ settlement with Microsoft--but in opposing Oracle. The DOJ has ruled against Oracle in a separate antitrust case in the U. S.

Spokespersons for the EU declined to comment, other than to say that this week's two days of closed-door hearings are part of the normal procedure of evaluating antitrust issues.

The hearings in Brussels are presided over by EU antitrust chief Mario Monti, who late last month announced a sweeping decision against Microsoft. Now Monti is faced with viewing a different segment of the market where Microsoft isn't dominant.