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SAP software is a leading program/navigation on enterprise resource planning (ERP) using software applications that help businesses manage and integrate their core operations, such as finance, human resources, supply chain management and procurement, within a single, centralized system. SAP’s primary purpose is to centralize data management and streamline complex business processes: this integration provides employees with real-time insights and a single trustful source of information.
Background
SAP is a German-based multinational corporation which develops software applications for companies to manage their business operations.
SAP software, short for Systems, Applications and Products in data processing, which uses the enterprise resource planning (ERP) programs that integrate and automate core business processes like corporate finances, human resources (HR), project and supply chain management, etc. It centralizes data, providing real-time insights and improving efficiency for businesses of all sizes and industries: i.e. the key benefits include streamlined operations, centralized data and improved decision-making.
Thus, SAP’s ERP software can be provided on-premises – when the software runs on the customer’s own servers – and/or via the cloud – when it is hosted on SAP’s servers and delivered over the internet. SAP also provides maintenance and support services for its ERP software, which include regular updates and technical assistance for its business customers to keep the software operational. Other companies also provide maintenance and support services for SAP’s on-premises ERP software, in competition with SAP, often against better commercial conditions, such as price.
There are the following SAP-EROP’s key functions and benefits:
= Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): At its core, SAP software helps companies manage and integrate essential business functions onto a single platform.
= Centralized data: It consolidates information from various departments, creating a single source of truth for financial, sales, and other operational data.
= Streamlined processes: SAP automates and modernizes key processes such as financial accounting, human resources, sales, and inventory management.
= Real-time insights: It provides up-to-the-minute data on business operations, enabling better financial reporting, forecasting, and decision-making.
= Industry-specific solutions: SAP offers a range of preconfigured, industry-specific best practices to help businesses implement solutions quickly.
Investigating procedure
In September 2025, the European Commission opened a formal investigation to assess whether SAP may have distorted competition in the aftermarket for maintenance and support services related to an on-premises type of software, licensed by SAP, used for the management of companies’ business operations and called Enterprise Resource Planning (‘ERP’), in the European Economic Area (EEA). In parallel to the opening of proceedings, the Commission adopted a Preliminary Assessment summarising the main facts of the case and identifying its competition concerns.
The Commission’s preliminary investigation includes the following four practices implemented by SAP in the EEA aftermarket for the maintenance and support services of SAP’s on-premises ERP software, on which the Commission preliminary considers that SAP holds a dominant position:
= SAP requires customers to: a) seek maintenance and support services from SAP for all their SAP on-premises ERP software, and b) choose the same type of maintenance and support under the same pricing conditions for all their SAP on-premises ERP software. This may prevent customers from “mixing and matching” maintenance and support services from different suppliers at different price and support levels despite it being more convenient for them;
= SAP prevents customers from terminating maintenance and support services for unused software licenses, which may result in SAP’s customers paying for unwanted services;
= SAP systematically extends the duration of the initial term of on-premises ERP licenses, during which termination of maintenance and support services is not possible;
=SAP charges reinstatement and back-maintenance fees to customers who subscribe to SAP’s maintenance and support after a period of absence. In some cases, these fees correspond to the amount customers would have paid if they had stayed with SAP all along.
The offered commitments
To address the Commission’s concerns, SAP has offered the following commitments:
= To clarify the conditions to SAP customers for splitting their SAP system (covering all on-premises ERP products and licenses) into separate parts. For each part, SAP customers will be able to choose between different support services suppliers as well as opt for different levels of SAP support or for no SAP support at all;
= To give wider access to its single-metric contracts, which provide an alternative way for calculating the license fees based on which maintenance and support fees are in turn calculated. Customers will also have the option to place their unused licenses (“shelfware”) in a separate part of their SAP system and to end SAP’s maintenance and support services for that part;
= To clarify its contractual provisions regarding the initial term of licenses, during which customers cannot terminate their support contracts, and refrain from restarting such term at every additional license purchase; and
= To abolish reinstatement fees and reduce the back maintenance fees charged to customers once they resume the support services after a period during which they have gone off support, or when they contract such services at a later stage after the initial purchase of the primary license(s) from SAP. Back maintenance fees will be reduced to 50% of the amount of maintenance and support fees a customer would have paid if it had not gone off support, capped at the amount a customer would have paid for a 6-month period. SAP also commits to fully waive back maintenance fees for a list of products which are no longer supported by SAP and are not covered by a cross-product license.
If the commitments are made binding, they will apply to all current and future customers worldwide. The commitments offered by SAP would remain in force for 10 years. Their implementation will be monitored by a monitoring trustee who will report regularly to the Commission.
The Commission invites all interested parties to submit their views on SAP’s proposed commitments within one month from the publication of a summary of the proposed commitments in the EU’s Official Journal. The full text of the commitments will be available on the Commission’s competition website.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/ip_25_2683
Commission’s opinion
Teresa Ribera, Commission Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition underlined that thousands of companies among the EU-27 are using SAP’s software to run their business, as well as its related maintenance and support services. However, the Commission raises concerns “that SAP may have restricted competition in this crucial aftermarket, by making it harder for rivals to compete, leaving European customers with fewer choices and higher costs”. In this regard, the Commission wants “to have a closer look at SAP’s potentially distortive business practices” and to make sure that “companies that rely on SAP’s software can freely choose the maintenance and support services that best fits their business needs”.
Reference to: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2163