172 lines
7.3 KiB
HTML
172 lines
7.3 KiB
HTML
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<title>The EU's relationship with Microsoft</title>
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<body>
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<h1>The EU's relationship with Microsoft</h1>
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<p>
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The FSFE has <a href="/news/2014/news-20140708-01.html">recently expressed its concern</a>
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for the lock-in into Microsoft software and licenses that the EU
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experiences since a number of years. To understand the issue, it
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is helpful to develop a basic understanding of how the EU awards
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its IT contracts.</p>
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<p>As the EU is a public institution financed by the people, it is
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required to allocate its resources in a fair and transparent way.
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In terms of IT contracts, this means that the EU is supposed to
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consider alternating solutions fairly and competitively in
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order to arrive at the best solution possible.</p>
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<p>The process described above carries the name "Open Call for Tender".
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It essentially means that the EU announces its requirements for
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specific IT solutions, and providers of said solutions apply and
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compete in order to be chosen. This, of course, includes providers
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of <a href="/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">Free Software</a>.</p>
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<p>Despite the abovementioned procedure, the EU has repeatedly entered
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contractual agreements with Microsoft through a process called
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<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/informatics/procurement/negproc/index_en.htm">'negotiated procedure'</a>.
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What this means is that a deal is made without the required level
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of competitiveness, with questionable arguments.</p>
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<p>The overview provided below is a list of all the contractual
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obligations with Microsoft the EU has entered in recent years.
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It is meant to show the extent of the issue in financial terms
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and the questionable argumentation given by the EU.</p>
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<hr />
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<p><h4>Contract:</h4><a href="http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:140672-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML">DI/07280 (Interinstitutional Licensing Agreement)</a></p>
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<p><strong>Date:</strong>15.04.14</p>
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<strong>Large Account Reseller (LAR):</strong>
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<p>Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited
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70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay
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Dublin
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IRELAND</p>
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<p><strong>Purpose:</strong>
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The subject of the contract is the acquisition of Microsoft licenses —
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the purchase itself is not conducted via this framework contract but a framework
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contract with licensing solutions provider (large account reseller).
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</p>
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<p><strong>Justification:</strong>
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"The works/goods/services can be provided only by a particular tenderer for
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reasons that are: Technical, connected with the protection of exclusive rights"</p>
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<p><strong>Value:</strong>
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0 EUR As stated in point II.2.1), this contract has no associated financial
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value. This is because the products covered by it will not be acquired directly
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from the contractor, but under contract DI-07020-00 (large account reseller),
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which was awarded following an open call for tenders, or under similar present
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or future contracts entered into by the participating EU Institutions, Agencies
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and Other Bodies; see contract award notice 2012/S 65-105131 of 3.4.2012 for
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further details. Therefore, the present notice is published exclusively for
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transparency purposes. In particular, it does not have the effect foreseen in
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Article 171(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29.10.2012
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on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European
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Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general
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budget of the Union (OJ L 362, 31.12.2012, p. 1).
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</p>
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<strong>What's the problem?</strong>
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<p>As can be seen from the justification, this contract is a type of
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empty shell: While the EU does not purchase anything, it enters an agreement
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that grants exclusive rights to providers of Microsoft licenses. No money changes
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hands, and no open call for tender (= fair competition) is required (allowed).
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The actual licenses are purchased in the contract below.</p>
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<hr />
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<h4>Contract:</h4>
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<p><a href="http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:140675-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML">DI/07300 (Microsoft high-level services)
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</a></p>
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<p><strong>Date:</strong>
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15.04.14</p>
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<strong>Large Account Reseller:</strong>
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<p>Microsoft NV/SA
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Corporate Village, Da Vincilaan 3
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1935 Zaventem
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BELGIUM
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</p>
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<p><strong>Purpose:</strong>
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Microsoft high-level services and consultancy.</p>
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<p><strong>Justification:</strong>
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"The works/goods/services can be provided only by a particular tenderer for reasons that are:
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Technical"</p>
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<p><strong>Value:</strong>
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44 000 000 Excluding VAT</p>
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<strong>What's the problem?</strong>
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<p>This is the contract in which the licenses that were 'pre-selected' in the contract
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above are actually purchased.</p>
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<hr />
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<h4>Contract:</h4>
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<p><a href="http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:105131-2012:TEXT:EN:HTML">DIGIT/R2/PO/2011/079 LAR 2011 — various supplies
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</a></p>
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<p><strong>Date:</strong>
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01.02.12</p>
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<strong>Large Account Reseller.</strong>
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<p>Hewlett-Packard Belgium BVBA/SPRL
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Hermeslaan 1a
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1831 Diegem
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BELGIUM
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</p>
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<p><strong>Purpose:</strong>
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The objective of this call for tender, CFT-LAR 2011, is to establish a
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framework contract for a single source purchase channel, covering the acquisition
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of Microsoft software products and licences under an interinstitutional licensing
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agreement, with a large account reseller (LAR).
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</p>
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<p><strong>Value:</strong>
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50 033 804,09 EUR</p>
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<strong>What's the problem?</strong>
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<p>This contract is problematic because it establishes a 'single source purchase channel'
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with HP, which is a blatant abuse of the concept of a call for tender for what is actually
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a negotiated procedure. Put differently, the EU ignores its duty to award its funds in a
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fair and competitive way by going straight to HP.</p>
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<hr />
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<p><h4>Contract:</h4>
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<a href="http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:320241-2010:TEXT:EN:HTML">DIGIT/R2/PN/2010/101</a></p>
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<p><strong>Date:</strong>
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21.10.10</p>
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<strong>Large Account Reseller (LAR):</strong>
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<p>Microsoft NV, The Corporate Village, Da Vincilaan 3, 1935 Zaventem, BELGIUM.
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</p>
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<p><strong>Purpose:</strong>
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Ceiling Increase of Contract DI/05950</p>
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<p><strong>Justification:</strong>
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"e) Additional works/deliveries/services are ordered under the strict
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conditions stated in the Directive. The conditions set in the abovementioned
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provisions for the use of the negotiated procedure are met as follows:
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1. the present ceiling increase procedure aims at acquisition of additional
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services not included in the project initially envisaged and indeed through
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unforeseen circumstances these have become necessary for the abovementioned
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projects, whereas the use of Microsoft tools was decided after the signature
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of the present contract;
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2. the ceiling increase concerns the acquisition of additional services, which
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cannot be economically separated from the main contract;
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3. this procedure has the objective to increase the ceiling of the framework
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contract DI/05950 by 1 920 000 EUR, which does not exceed 50 % of the original
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ceiling, i.e.: 5 368 000 EUR."
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</p>
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<p><strong>Value:</strong>
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1 920 000 EUR, excluding VAT.</p>
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<strong>What's the problem?</strong>
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<p>This contract is a ceiling increase, which means that the amount of money
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allocated to a previous contract is increased. The lock-in that the EU finds
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itself in gives the sole provider of its IT infrastructure the power to abuse
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its position to request additional funding.(?)</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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