SAP EU antitrust settlement on ERP support

In July 2026 the European Commission formally closed its antitrust investigation into SAP after the software company pledged to stop charging re‑activation fees for customers returning to official support and to permit third‑party firms to maintain on‑premise ERP installations. The agreement eliminated the risk of heavy fines and gave customers the right to use external providers such as Rimini Street for legacy ECC systems while keeping SAP support for newer S/4 products. Market reaction was muted, with SAP shares hovering near a yearly low ahead of its upcoming earnings release.

A few weeks later, the Commission declared SAP’s commitments legally binding, converting the earlier settlement into a ten‑year worldwide support framework. The binding deal clarifies how customers may split SAP landscapes into separate “Commercial Installations” and obliges SAP to allow different support providers, varied scopes, or even no support under defined circumstances (final maintenance phase, failed implementation, insolvency, staff cuts, or sale of the business). The decision finalised a procedure that began in September 2025 and confirmed that no fine would be levied, but that SAP must give customers greater flexibility and termination rights that address the competition concerns that originally prompted the case.