The European Commission Wednesday announced it has asked four European Union countries to justify why they favor Intel processors in computers for public authorities.
The European Commission Wednesday announced it has asked four European Union countries to justify why they favor Intel processors in computers for public authorities.
The Commission has asked France, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden for information on why invitations for tenders to supply computers for public authorities specified they should contain Intel or equivalent microprocessors, or processors using a specific clock rate. A brand name can only be specified in invitations for tender if it is otherwise impossible to describe the product sufficiently, and merely specifying the clock rate is not sufficient to indicate the required performance of a computer, the Commission said
The move is the first step in a legal process which could see the four member states taken to the European Court of Justice. The countries have two months to reply to the Commission. If the Commission is unsatisfied with their response, they will be required to make changes to their invitations to tender.
The Commission asked Italy and Germany for the same information in the first half of this year.
