For the first time, open-source software is seen as a lever for industrial policy
Europe is no longer content to promote open source solely for interoperability reasons. The goal is now the Union’s strategic autonomy in the face of American and Chinese giants. The question of funding remains…
Odoo in Belgium, Mistral AI in France, Aiven in Finland… In its pro-open-source communication, the European Commission specifically names these European gems in the sector. At the same time, it acknowledges that these organizations face obstacles that hinder their development, particularly in accessing public procurement markets.
Will open source finally be recognized? The question keeps coming up like a recurring theme. In its explanation of the strategy on June 3, the EC states that open source will help reduce dependence on technologies from third countries and strengthen control over critical digital infrastructure, including software and hardware systems.
A project that requires broad support
The challenges are no fewer. They are primarily structural. These include limited long-term funding, difficulties in maintaining and scaling projects, and obstacles to the transition from innovation to industrial deployment.
Other challenges include the fragmented visibility of European solutions, limited access to public procurement, and dependence on dominant technology suppliers from third countries. In many cases, the economic value generated by open-source projects is captured outside Europe, limiting the ability of European developers and companies to fully benefit from their contributions.
In short, to address these issues, it is necessary to strengthen coordination, improve funding mechanisms, enhance governance frameworks, and support sustainable business models based on open source.
Six areas of implementation
- Promote open-source solutions in key EU policies such as the EU digital identity ecosystem, including the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI) and the European Business Wallet (EBW).
- Strengthen collaboration with Member States, particularly through the Consortium for a European Digital Infrastructure for Digital Commons, to develop, adapt, and scale secure open-source alternatives for public services.
- Ensure that public administrations engage users and contributors to open source through public procurement guidance, open-source-friendly tenders, strengthening the Open Source Program Office and its networks, reusable public digital assets, and integrating openness and sovereignty into digital investment decisions.
- Support the development of new open-source building blocks in critical technology areas, including operating systems, cloud and edge computing, AI, cybersecurity, software development infrastructure, semiconductors, and future internet architectures.
- Ensure the long-term maintenance, security, and sustainability of critical open-source components, notably through governance, an EU evaluation framework, dependency analysis, and an open-source maintenance instrument.
- Improve skills for working with open technologies, including support for open-source development and contributor mobility through programs such as the Erasmus+ 2027 program.
A budget that makes teeth grind
The intention is there, and the direction makes sense. But the proposed budget of €2 billion over seven years, drawn from public and private sources, leaves the CEP (Centers for European Policy Network) wanting more. In fact, it is clearly insufficient for a strategy intended to replace €264 billion in annual IT spending on proprietary software.
Moreover, many experts believe the Commission should explicitly make funding contingent on maintenance obligations throughout the entire project lifecycle, not just at the outset.
