The European Commission, in its push for the bloc’s technological sovereignty, has launched a formal call for evidence to help shape its strategy on open-source tech. In just a few days, over 370 submissions have already been filed, indicating that the issue is touching a nerve across the EU.
The European Commission is preparing a new strategy to boost the EU’s open-source sector. The initiative is titled “Toward European open digital ecosystems.”
It’s not yet a draft for any law, but rather an official document detailing a set of goals to other branches of the EU government, acting as a high-level “master plan” for future funding and legislation.
What’s surprising, however, is the unusually high number of responses the “call for evidence” has already attracted. The consultation only opened on January 6th, 2026, and it has already received over 370 responses from organizations, companies, and citizens. This figure surpasses many past initiatives, including those considered highly politically charged.
“Europe must regain control over its software supply chain to safeguard freedom, security, and innovation,” suggests an individual from Slovakia.
Similar perspectives appear to be widely shared among respondents.
“I firmly believe that any software used in the public sector and/or created by taxpayers’ money should be open source so the entire European Union can benefit,” another respondent from Poland suggests.
Cybernews has already reported that EU citizens are taking matters into their own hands by cataloging alternative services and encouraging users to ditch proprietary US platforms in favor of supporting local innovation. EU policymakers are following suit.
“The EU faces a significant problem of dependence on non-EU countries in the digital sphere. This reduces users' choice, hampers EU companies' competitiveness, and can raise supply chain security issues as it makes it difficult to control our digital infrastructure (both physical and software components), potentially creating vulnerabilities, including in critical sectors,” the European Commission’s (EC) document reads.
EC plans to adopt the Communication in the first quarter of 2026. The consultation aims to gather views of “all interested stakeholders, especially the European open-source community, public administrations, specialized business sectors, the ICT industry, academia, and research institutions.”
What does the initiative aim to achieve?
The document doesn’t mention US tech giants specifically, but rather aims to support tech sovereignty and seek “digital solutions that are valid alternatives to proprietary ones.”
The initiative is part of the EU’s tech sovereignty and competitiveness agenda. The document lists five key objectives:
- Promoting high-quality and secure EU open-source solutions, showcasing their value.
- Improving deployment, usability, software supply chain security, and long-term sustainability of projects.
- Supporting open source companies, foundations, and public-private partnerships.
- Best practice sharing and encouraging adoption and contribution by the public sector, key industries, and large customers.
- Supporting market integration, especially with legacy systems and policy alignment.
“This is not a legislative initiative. The strategy will take the form of a Commission communication. The initiative will set out a general approach and will propose: actions relying on further commitments and an implementation process,” the EC explains.
Policymakers expect the strategy to help EU member states identify the necessary steps to support national open-source companies and communities.
It will cover the full open-source life cycle – from development to maintenance and sustainability and market integration – across critical sectors (AI, cloud, edge, internet of things, cybersecurity, internet technologies, and industrial ones, such as automotive, among others).
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