Brussels: The SAP antitrust commitments close a European Commission investigation into how the German software group charged for maintenance and support of its on-premise enterprise software, and they do so without a fine. The Commission opened the case in September 2025 over concerns that SAP’s practices restricted competition in the aftermarket for support services. In July 2026 it moved to accept binding commitments that will run for ten years and apply worldwide.

What the SAP antitrust commitments change

Customers of on-premise enterprise resource planning software pay an annual maintenance fee, normally calculated as a share of the licence value. Support from the vendor is often the only practical option, which gives the vendor strong leverage over price and contract terms. The Commission’s concern was that this leverage made it hard for rival support providers to compete and hard for customers to leave.

The SAP antitrust commitments tackle that concern through several specific changes. SAP offers an alternative method for calculating the licence fees on which maintenance charges are based. It scraps reinstatement fees, which penalised customers who dropped support and later wanted it back. It also reduces back-maintenance charges for returning customers, and it lets customers terminate licences in defined circumstances, including insolvency or bankruptcy.

Why a commitments decision instead of a fine

Under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003 the Commission can make a company’s promises legally binding and close a case without finding an infringement. The company avoids a penalty, which in antitrust cases can reach 10% of worldwide annual turnover, and the Commission avoids a long fight in court. Commentators noted that a fine in a case like this could have run into the billions.

The trade-off is accountability. A commitments decision does not establish that SAP broke the law, so it creates no precedent on abuse of dominance in software support. It does, however, create enforceable duties. If SAP breaks the SAP antitrust commitments, the Commission can fine it up to 10% of turnover for non-compliance, without proving the original concern.

Who benefits in the support market

The practical effect depends on whether independent support providers can now compete on fair terms. Lower reinstatement costs and a clearer fee base reduce the penalty for switching, and switching is the pressure that disciplines prices. Large customers with complex systems will probably test the new terms first, while smaller firms may wait to see how the market responds.

A ten-year duration gives buyers planning certainty that most contract cycles cannot match. A global scope also matters, because many SAP customers run systems across several continents and would otherwise face different terms in different regions.

What to watch next

Three signals will show whether the remedy works. The first is whether customers actually use the new termination and fee options, which will show up in renewal data over the next two years. The second is whether independent providers report a larger addressable market. The third is how the Commission monitors compliance, since a ten-year remedy needs active supervision.

For competition lawyers, the case confirms that enterprise software aftermarkets are now a regular enforcement target in Brussels. For buyers, the SAP antitrust commitments are a concrete reason to review maintenance contracts in 2026 and to ask whether the new fee method lowers their annual bill.