European regulators are set to charge Microsoft for not complying with a 2009 ruling requiring it to offer users a choice of web browsers, according to the EU's antitrust chief.
“The next step is to open a formal proceeding into the company's breach of an agreement. We are working on this,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.
“It should not be a long investigation because the company itself explicitly recognized its breach of the agreement,” Almunia added.
EU regulators first began investigating the case in July, when Microsoft was first accused of failing to meet its commitments under EU antitrust decisions. If found guilty, Microsoft could face fines of up to 10 percent of its global turnover, which based on 2012 figures could amount to $7.37 billion, or roughly 5.73 billion euros.
Nearly three years ago Microsoft agreed to allow European consumers better access to rival browsers in its Windows software. The decision settled an antitrust case and let Microsoft avoid paying a penalty of 10 percent of turnover.
Microsoft has been fined more than 1 billion euros, or around $1.3 billion, by the Commission in the last decade for breaking EU rules.
Reuters contributed to this report.
