About the EU Tech Sovereignty Package

This week, the European Commission unveiled its Tech Sovereignty Package, a broad initiative aimed at strengthening Europe's technological independence and competitiveness. Among its proposals, the Cloud and AI Development Act places an unprecedented emphasis on open source as a strategic component of Europe's digital future. 

Ahead of the announcement, Passbolt joined dozens of European technology companies and organizations in signing an open letter calling for stronger support for open-source software, open standards, and European digital capabilities.

The direction is encouraging. Open source is finally being recognized as critical infrastructure. For European open-source companies, this represents an important political signal. Yet after years of similar declarations and strategies, the question is not whether Europe understands the problem, but more whether this package contains the mechanisms necessary to change outcomes.

The package deserves credit for placing open source at the center of Europe's digital strategy. It acknowledges that sovereignty cannot be achieved while relying heavily on opaque infrastructure. The message is clear: open standards, transparency, and collaboration are strategic advantages. That is a significant step forward.

However, Europe has made similar declarations before. Over the past decade, the Commission and Member States have repeatedly highlighted the importance of open source, interoperability, and reducing dependency on foreign technology providers. While these initiatives have delivered progress, they have not fundamentally altered the structure of the European software market or public-sector procurement. 

This package establishes a political foundation that open-source communities and European technology companies can build upon. But without binding measures, "Open Source First" risks becoming another slogan.

We welcome the Commission's recognition of open source as critical digital infrastructure. Europe is moving in the right direction. Now comes the harder part: turning principles into action. 

At Passbolt we believe the answer is not more regulation for its own sake, nor government picking winners. Europe’s challenge is not a lack of rules but a market that too often rewards size, lock-in, and influence over openness and innovation. The question is whether Europe is creating the conditions for genuine competition: transparent procurement, open standards, interoperability, portability, and fair access to public markets. In short, mechanisms that help ensure no company becomes too powerful to compete against.

As it happens, the conditions that make markets more competitive are often the same ones that allow open source to flourish. If Europe succeeds in reducing dependency and rewarding openness, open-source companies will not need special treatment to thrive, they will be able to compete on their own merits.