European Pirate Party Submission – Towards European Open Digital Ecosystems
Executive Summary
The European Pirate Party considers the Commission’s Towards European Open Digital Ecosystems initiative a significant opportunity to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty by embedding open-source principles at its foundation. Open source should be regarded as a component of public infrastructure given its contributions to transparency, cybersecurity resilience, and democratic oversight.
To ensure that this objective is effectively implemented, action is required in four priority areas: updating public procurement frameworks to favour open standards; establishing sustainable funding mechanisms for the long-term maintenance and governance of open-source projects; reducing structural reliance on non-EU digital infrastructure; and introducing safeguards to prevent openwashing and undue vendor influence.
In the absence of coordinated EU-level measures, Europe’s developer community may continue to demonstrate strong technical capacity while remaining fragmented, limiting progress toward strategic autonomy and balanced market competition.
Our full submission responds to all five consultation questions, providing evidence-based analysis and specific policy recommendations.
For the complete analysis and supporting recommendations, please refer to the attached document: