June 1 (Reuters) - European trade group CISPE denied a

report on Saturday that it was nearing a settlement with

Microsoft ( MSFT ) to withdraw its antitrust complaint with the

European Commission about the U.S. company's cloud computing

licensing practices.

CISPE, whose members include Amazon ( AMZN ) and 26

small EU cloud providers, filed a complaint with the European

Commission in late 2022 alleging that Microsoft's ( MSFT ) new

contractual terms were harming Europe's cloud computing

ecosystem.

Politico reported earlier that Microsoft ( MSFT ) was closing in on a

multi-million euro deal with CISPE for it to drop its complaint,

citing two unnamed sources.

"These rumors are incorrect," said Cloud Infrastructure

Services Providers in Europe, when contacted by Reuters about

the Politico report. "Discussions between CISPE and Microsoft ( MSFT )

are ongoing, and while proposals have been made, no agreement

has been reached."

"Any offer will need to be submitted for acceptance to the

association's General Assembly, which includes 34 European cloud

providers located in over 14 Member States," it added.

Politico also reported that the deal had not been yet

accepted by members of the CISPE. It said separate payments

could also be made to individual companies, citing one unnamed

source.

Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ) and the European Commission did not

immediately respond to requests for comment on the Politico

report outside regular business hours.

Reuters previously reported that Microsoft ( MSFT ) was in talks

with CISPE to resolve the European Union antitrust complaint.

CISPE said in its complaint that "Microsoft's ( MSFT ) ongoing

position and behaviours are irreparably damaging the European

cloud ecosystem and depriving European customers of choice in

their cloud deployments".

Working the issue out bilaterally could help Microsoft ( MSFT ) stave

off a possible lengthy EU investigation that could lead to a

possible fine and an order to change its business practices.