EU official rebuffs US criticism in Microsoft case
BRUSSELS - Neelie Kroes, the European Union's antitrust commissioner, termed "totally unacceptable" US criticism of an EU court's ruling against Microsoft Corp.
Besides creating diplomatic friction, the US Justice Department's criticism of the decision upholding European antitrust sanctions against Microsoft, sparked a debate among US lawyers over its propriety.
These lawyers and Kroes, who spoke to reporters in Brussels, argued that the statement issued the same day of the ruling by Justice Department antitrust chief Thomas O. Barnett disrespects the European court.
"I think it's totally unacceptable that a representative of the US administration criticizes an independent court of law outside its jurisdiction," Kroes said. "It's absolutely not done. The European Commission doesn't pass judgment on rulings by US courts, and we expect the same degree of respect from US authorities for rulings by EU courts."
A Justice Department spokeswoman, Gina Talamona, declined to comment on Kroes's remarks and didn't respond to a request for comment on criticism by the US lawyers.
The exchange between Barnett and Kroes isn't the first trans-Atlantic war of words over antitrust policy.
In 2001, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill called the EU's veto of General Electric Co.'s proposed $47 billion merger with Honeywell International Inc. "off the wall." The United States also criticized a European regulatory investigation probe of International Business Machines Corp. in the early 1980s.
Barnett had criticized the ruling Monday by the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, which backed the EU's 2004 decision that ordered Microsoft to disclose proprietary data and strip music and video software from a version of Windows.
The ruling harms consumers by "chilling innovation and discouraging competition," said Barnett.
Barnett's statement "potentially devalues the input from American policy makers" seeking to harmonize United States and European antitrust standards, said San Francisco lawyer Daniel Wall, who represents some of Microsoft's competitors.
Such "convergence is very important to American business. Dealing with differing antitrust standards in a global economy is hard," he said in a telephone interview. Achieving that "is a matter of diplomacy" and "as a diplomatic tool" Barnett's statement is "quite poor," Wall said.
Other comments Wall made on an American Bar Association online discussion group for antitrust lawyers sparked a debate over Barnett's statement.
The Justice Department official had some defenders in the e-mail exchanges.
Following the EU's veto of GE's takeover of Honeywell, US officials criticized the EU's approach to conglomerate mergers. The deal had been approved by US authorities.
American officials said the veto showed a divide in vetting deals, which the United States generally views as benefiting competition and consumers.
Kroes and Barnett will attend an antitrust conference in New York starting Sept. 27 at which lawyers and academics will discuss the differences between US and European approaches to companies with monopoly power.
Kroes said in April that the EU won't hesitate to examine allegations against US companies that do business in Europe and are accused by other US companies of anticompetitive behavior.
