MS Word out, Libre Office in: Germany is switching to the Open Document Format
Germany’s public sector documents will be issued only in open formats, reducing institutions’ reliance on Microsoft Word amid the country’s efforts to achieve digital sovereignty.
The Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernization has released the framework specifying an interoperable IT environment across all levels of government, according to the Winfuture report, which Cybernews machine translated.
The framework states that, in the future, only open formats, such as the Open Document Format (ODF), will be permitted for official documents. Proprietary alternatives, such as Microsoft Word, will be explicitly excluded.
ODF is an open, internationally standardized file format used by programs like LibreOffice, an office suite developed by the Germany-based non-profit organization, the Document Foundation.
The mandatory use of ODF aims to ensure that documents remain accessible in the long term, regardless of individual software vendors or software versions. Moreover, the move is expected to improve compatibility between different systems.
Microsoft says its Word documents support ODF files. However, there may be formatting differences, and some Word features aren’t available in ODT files.
The switch comes as part of a broader strategy called Deutschland-Stack, or Germany Stack, aimed at strengthening the country's digital sovereignty.
Germany seeks to increase the use of open-source software and to store data within national or European structures.
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, announced in 2025 that 80% of state government workplaces had switched from Microsoft software to open-source alternatives.
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A similar trend is observed in other European countries, including France, Austria, and the Netherlands.
For example, France has recently announced that public servants will be required to replace the video conferencing platform Zoom with the local alternative, Visio.
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