Have Your Say About Open Source in European Policy

The European Commission (EC) has published a request for input to inform the upcoming European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy. The Strategy is focused on strengthening European open digital ecosystems, promoting technological sovereignty, and reinforcing cybersecurity.

Anyone can submit feedback but contributions are sought specifically from Open Source developers and maintainers, foundations, SMEs and scale-ups, industry, public administrations, academia, and civil society.

Feedback topics

All feedback is welcome but five questions are put forward specifically:

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the EU open-source sector? What are the main barriers that hamper (i) adoption and maintenance of high-quality and secure open source; and (ii) sustainable contributions to open-source communities?
2. What is the added value of open source for the public and private sectors? Please provide concrete examples, including the factors (such as cost, risk, lock-in, security, innovation, among others) that are most important to assess the added value.
3. What concrete measures and actions may be taken at EU level to support the development and growth of the EU open-source sector and contribute to the EU’s technological sovereignty and cybersecurity agenda?
4. What technology areas should be prioritised and why?
5. In what sectors could an increased use of open source lead to increased competitiveness and cyber resilience?

About the Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy

The EC writes about the Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy that it will provide a:

• strategic approach to the open source sector in the EU that addresses the importance of open source as a crucial contribution to EU technological sovereignty, security and competitiveness".
• a strategic and operational framework to strengthen the use, development and reuse of open digital assets within the Commission, building on the results achieved under the Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023.

Practical information

The request for input is open until open until February 3, 2026 (midnight Brussels time). You'll need to register an EU login account to be able to submit a contribution, registration only requires an email address. You'll be directed to the login page when clicking on the 'Give Feedback' button.