The European Commission dismissed reports Wednesday that it has decided to find Intel guilty of monopoly abuse as "irresponsible."

"The Commission has an ongoing antitrust case. The investigation is active. It is misleading to suggest that any provisional internal decision has been taken," said Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd.

FT Deutschland, a German-language sister title to the Financial Times, had earlier reported that an internal decision had been taken to prosecute Intel for abusing its dominant position in the microprocessor market in Europe, and that it would be announced later this summer. The report was picked up by many other news outlets.

"The Commission has been pursuing this case for several years and will continue to do so as diligently as it can, and it will announce its conclusion as soon as possible," Todd added, but gave no timetable for the probe.

The Commission charged Intel last July with abusing its market position by offering rebates to PC manufacturers if they would buy most of their microprocessors from the company, and also of paying manufacturers to abandon or delay the launch of products containing processors made by its rival Advanced Micro Devices.

In February, the Commission conducted dawn raids on Intel offices in Europe, looking for evidence. Intel defended its behavior at a hearing in Brussels in March.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.