The Press Association today reports that Microsoft is claiming that European Union regulators are unfairly holding back documents that it needs to defend itself against antitrust charges, according to a letter its lawyer sent to the European Commission this week.

Microsoft spokesman Tom Brookes said "All Microsoft is asking for is access to our file.  This is a basic question of fairness and transparency."

EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said  "The commission accepts that companies have the right to documents which are necessary for their defense, in particular documents which give information on the allegations.  They do not have the right to the business secrets of other companies. Microsoft is very attached, as you know, to business secrets, its own business secrets."

Microsoft has until Feb. 15 to make a written reply, but says it has not yet seen the documents that explain how the commission came to its decision.

The EU has threatened the software company with fines of up to $2.36 million a day, retroactive to 15th December 2005, for failing to obey its 2004 antitrust ruling, saying Microsoft was refusing to properly share data with competitors.