The Oracle Sun deal is dragging on as the EU is still doubtful that the software giant will provide a good home for MySQL, an open-source database system owned by Sun which competes with some of Oracle's offerings. The proposed acquisition, in which Oracle would buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion, is under scrutiny in Europe, and Oracle defended its motives yesterday in a private meeting saying that EU regulators have been overly selective in the evidence they chose to present and some of the studies they used to back up their claims that the deal would be detrimental to competition in the market.

In spring 2009, Oracle made a bid for Sun which had seen better days at that point. The proposed deal was approved by the Department of Justice in the US, but EU regulators decided to extend their investigation until January 27, 2010, and there are growing signs that they're not happy with the deal with most of the concerns being about MySQL. Oracle, though, has said it has no intentions of selling MySQL and is claiming it will invest in the technology after the acquisition goes through.

The company has stood by its guns, but hasn't done much to counter the claims or defend its position. Lately, it's been going on the offensive and is now attacking the idea that database customers are weary of such a deal. Oracle says that the EU Competition Commission, which is handling the investigation, has “cherry picked” quotes and opinions from the surveys it sent out to companies in the field.

It goes on to present quotes from the same surveys which it claims argue its position and shows that companies don't object to the deal. It remains to be seen if it is enough to build a strong case for it, but the hearings will continue today with Oracle competitors Microsoft and German software maker SAP presenting their opinions on the matter which, unsurprisingly, are against the deal.