Insufficient financing for open-source software threats Europe's digital autonomy.
The European Union is proposing a new initiative, the EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF), to address the chronic underfunding of open source software that is vital to Europe's digital sovereignty, security, and independence. Inspired by the successful German Sovereign Tech Agency (STA/STF), the EU-STF aims to reduce supply chain fragility, security vulnerabilities, and the EU's dependence on foreign technologies by strategically investing in key open source projects and their maintainers.
The EU-STF will focus on several key areas:
- Identifying the EU’s most critical open source dependencies
- Investing in the maintenance of these software projects
- Enhancing security features
- Supporting improvements and innovation within relevant open source tools
- Strengthening the broader open source ecosystem across Europe
Two institutional models for the EU-STF are proposed: a centralized EU institution or a consortium of EU member states that provides the initial funding and applies for additional resources from the EU budget. The fund would ideally be supported by a minimum of €350 million from the EU's upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2035).
The inspiration for the EU-STF comes from Germany's Sovereign Tech Agency, which demonstrates how public funding and structured support for open source tooling can improve digital sovereignty by maintaining and securing crucial software components. The German Sovereign Tech Fund, managed by the Sovereign Tech Agency, is a public-sector investment initiative launched in October 2022, financed by the German government. In its first two years, it has invested €23 million across over 60 projects.
The EU-STF will provide flexible funding for individuals, nonprofits, and companies for their open source software (OSS) maintenance work. It will collaborate with the open source community to co-define funding priorities and design the funding process. Geographical restrictions will not apply, and funding can be provided to those living outside the EU.
The EU-STF must meet the highest standards of transparency in governance and funding decisions. It should demonstrate a positive impact on the EU's strategic goals, such as economic competitiveness, digital sovereignty, and cybersecurity. The fund should be politically independent to avoid frequent pivots to new, politically salient topics, and the application process should be lightweight and proactive, with limited reporting requirements.
The demand-side value of open source software to the global economy is estimated at $8.8 trillion, and the European Commission's own research shows that OSS contributes a minimum of €65 to 95 billion to the EU economy annually. The EU-STF is a crucial step towards creating a sustainable, well-funded European ecosystem for OSS development and maintenance that underpins critical digital infrastructure, thereby enhancing Europe's autonomy and resilience in the digital age.
OpenUK, an advocacy group for open source funding in the UK, supports a more holistic approach to open source funding, including a landscape review and practical steps to embed necessary processes. The EU-STF must meet seven design criteria, including pooled financing, transparency, accountability, openness, flexibility, sustainability, and impact measurement.
Discussions regarding the EU-STF are ongoing as the EU negotiates its new multi-year budget for the period 2028-2035, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework. The goal is to create a mission-driven, scaled-up, and pan-European initiative that will secure Europe's digital future.
The EU-Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF) will invest in education-and-self-development by supporting improvements and innovation within relevant open source tools, aiming to create a sustainable European ecosystem. In the realm of technology, the EU-STF will focus on strengthening the broader open source ecosystem across Europe, reducing dependence on foreign technologies. Additionally, the general-news coverage of the fund's progress will serve as a means to demonstrate its impact on Europe's digital sovereignty, security, and independence.
