Microsoft on Wednesday scored an important breakthrough in its long-running battle with European regulators, paving the way for an end to a highly charged dispute that has hung over the US software company for much of this decade in one of its most important markets.

The EU’s antitrust watchdog said it believed it had won concessions from Microsoft that would bring more competition to the internet browser market, and voiced support for technical changes the company said would make its software work better with other companies’ products.