Oracle on Monday said that it had engaged in discussions with the European Commission (EC) regarding the concerns expressed by the EC about the Oracle/Sun Microsystems transaction, and in particular the maintenance of MySQL as a competitive force in the database market. In an attempt to reassure the commission, Oracle promised to continue developing MySQL as an open-source platform.

The European Commission confirmed that it had also engaged in negotiations with Oracle regarding the maintenance of MySQL as an important competitive force in the database market after Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

“Today's announcement by Oracle of a series of undertakings to customers, developers and users of MySQL is an important new element to be taken into account in the ongoing proceedings. In particular, Oracle's binding contractual undertakings to storage engine vendors regarding copyright non-assertion and the extension over a period of up to 5 years of the terms and conditions of existing commercial licenses are significant new facts,” a statement by the EC reads.

In this context, competition commissioner Neelie Kroes recalls and confirms her statement of 9 December 2009 that she is optimistic that the case will have a satisfactory outcome, while ensuring that the transaction will not have an adverse impact on effective competition in the European database market.

Tags: Sun Microsystems, Sun, Oracle, Business