The European Commission came under fire yesterday after it emerged that a senior official due to join Microsoft had some involvement with Brussels' antitrust case against the software group.

A coalition of Microsoft rivals said it had held a meeting with Mr Detlef Eckert, a senior member of the Commission's information technology department, last year to discuss the antitrust case.

Mr Eckert is due to join the US company to work on its "trustworthy computing" project, which deals with privacy and security issues.

His appointment was cleared by Mr Fabio Colasanti, head of the Commission's IT department.

Mr Ed Black, chairman of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a group of 30 companies, said he had discussed sensitive issues at the meeting with Mr Eckert.

"I wouldn't have said what I said if Microsoft was sitting in the room," Mr Black said.

Microsoft said yesterday that Mr Eckert would not be involved in the antitrust case, which focuses on allegations that the company used its strong position in the Windows software to harm rivals in video software and servers.

The Commission said Mr Eckert had been forbidden to deal with European Union issues while at the software group.

The Brussels authorities said Mr Eckert had had some involvement in the case, even though the investigation was being carried out by the Commission's competition department.

In particular, he was given the Commission's statement of objections, the charge sheet sent to companies targeted by an antitrust probe.

However, Mr Eckert had ceased to have any involvement with the case since the middle of last year, the European Commission said.

Although there is no suggestion of impropriety on Mr Eckert's part, the controversy comes at a sensitive time for the Commission, which is expected to decide on the case in the next few weeks. - (Financial Times Service)