Nextcloud withdraws European Commission OneDrive complaint

Nextcloud has withdrawn a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission over OneDrive bundling, citing a lack of progress with the governing body.

The complaint was filed in 2021 and concerned Microsoft's bundling of OneDrive with Windows. It seemed timely, considering the increasing European antipathy toward the US tech giants, but considering "there has not been any noticeable progress", according to Nextcloud, it is calling time on the complaint, for now at least.

Microsoft had nothing to share with The Register about the withdrawal.

A spokesperson for Nextcloud told us that, as well as the cost involved, the time needed to be invested in interactions with the European Commission, while not necessarily a distraction from the core business, had become excessive. He described it as "a time investment on our end to keep it going (replying to questions over and over again)."

In a statement, the company said: "Since filing the complaint there has not been any noticeable progress. Given the lack of interest from the European Commission, lengthy process and costs on our side, Nextcloud decided to withdraw the complaint."

Nextcloud's decision comes as Microsoft has made it even more difficult to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account (and thus signing up for its online services).

The decision to withdraw the complaint from the European Commission does not affect the complaint with the German Federal Cartel Office, which stated that Microsoft was to be placed under supervision. The move is a step towards an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behavior.

Microsoft has had several battles over alleged anticompetitive behavior in Europe. Slack lodged a competition complaint with the EC in 2020 over the bundling of Teams into Office. Regulators launched a probe in 2023. Teams was subsequently unbundled and, in September 2025, Brussels announced that it had accepted Microsoft's concessions.

Despite withdrawing the complaint, Nextcloud said, "We still believe that Microsoft heavily favors their own products and services (so-called 'self-preferencing') or outright blocks other vendors."

It added: "Microsoft still uses their position as gate keeper to extend their reach in more and more markets and push users deeper into their ecosystems."

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Public awareness of the tech giants' antics has increased in recent years, even if the pace at which regulators move appears to have not. An individual with experience in negotiating with the EC noted that it was worrying that the Commission appeared to be slow in opening cases on behalf of European players and addressing competition concerns in a timely manner.

A spokesperson for the European Commission told us: "We take note of the withdrawal of the complaint of Nextcloud. We also note that the company is pursuing the matter with the German Federal Cartel Office.

"The Commission recognizes the paramount importance of competitive and innovative cloud markets for the European economy. Therefore, the Commission takes cloud-related concerns very seriously and is closely monitoring the market.

"It is with a view to ensuring that all European consumers and businesses can reap the benefits of the development of cloud that we are actively investigating antitrust allegations regarding the sector." ®