Oracle continued to argue its case for acquiring PeopleSoft before the European Union this week, parading recent EU bogeyman Microsoft.
EU anti-trust 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, press reports said.
Europe is scheduled to make its decision by 11 May. Microsoft maintains it is at best a minor player in a market dominated by Oracle and 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 US Department of Justice in the somewhat awkward position of supporting Microsoft before the EU -- it defends the earlier US Justice settlement with Microsoft -- but in opposing Oracle.
US Justice ruled against Oracle in a separate anti-trust case in the US.
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 anti-trust chief Mario Monti, who in late March announced a sweeping decision against Microsoft.
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