The European Commission has opened a public call for evidence on a forthcoming European Open Digital Ecosystems Strategy. The consultation, which runs from January 6 to February 3, 2026, invites feedback from developers, companies, public administrations, academia, and civil society.
The initiative is expected to culminate in a Commission communication to the European Parliament and the Council, with adoption planned for the first quarter of 2026.
According to the Commission, the strategy will define a coordinated EU-level approach to open source, recognising its role as a foundational element of modern digital infrastructure.
The Commission argues that a stronger European open-source ecosystem could help reduce dependence on non-EU technologies while improving transparency, resilience, and supply-chain security.
“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.”
In its problem assessment, the Commission also highlights that much of the value created by open-source projects developed in Europe is currently captured outside the EU, often by large global technology companies.
In light of this, European developers and businesses face high entry barriers, strong network effects from dominant platforms, and limited access to growth capital and hosting infrastructure. These constraints are seen as limiting the EU’s ability to scale open-source solutions into viable, competitive alternatives in critical sectors.
The strategy aims to tackle these issues by proposing a mix of policy and funding measures covering the full open-source lifecycle, from development and maintenance to deployment and market integration.
Key objectives include improving the visibility of EU-developed open-source solutions, addressing governance and software supply-chain security challenges, supporting sustainable business and foundation models, and encouraging greater adoption and contribution by the public sector and large organisations.
As a non-legislative initiative, no impact assessment is planned. Instead, the Commission intends to rely on stakeholder input gathered during the consultation phase to refine its approach. Responses will be published and used to shape the final strategy, which is expected to outline concrete actions and an implementation framework at the EU level.
