In March 2025, the European Union took a major step towards strengthening cooperation in the field of open source software by launching the EU Open Source Software Catalogue (EU OSS Catalogue ) through the Interoperable Europe Portal. In just a few months, the catalogue has become a key reference point for public sector organisations across Europe, gathering, organising and making accessible hundreds of open source solutions.
A rapidly growing repository
At its initial launch, the list included around 600 solutions , drawn from five different national or institutional open source software lists. Today, just five months later, it has almost 800 solutions , now covering eight lists from Member States and European institutions. These include:
- Awesome CodeGouvFr (France)
- code.europa.eu (EU institutions)
- Developer Government (Netherlands)
- Developers Italia (Italy)
- Open Code (Germany)
- OpenCode.fi (Finland, joined in May 2025)
- Offentligkod.se (Sweden, joined in May 2025)
- iMio (Belgium, new member)
The hosted solutions cover a wide range: from integrated applications, such as Municipio – a WordPress-based content management system used in Sweden – to more technical tools, such as X-Road , which enables secure data exchange between public bodies in Finland and Estonia.
New features and improved usability
Since its launch, the directory has not stood still. It has introduced improvements that make it more functional and user-friendly. Today, it supports the integration of solutions from both national and local directories, and it is planned to soon accept individual open source solutions . This paves the way for smaller organizations or groups that want to contribute without the need for a full national directory.
Development roadmap
The European Commission, through the Directorate-General for Digital Services, has set out an ambitious roadmap to further expand the catalogue by the end of 2025. The key objectives are:
- Simplifying the import process new lists so that more entities can contribute easily.
- Strengthening cooperation with public organizations of the member states, creating a truly federal ecosystem.
- Awareness and dissemination of the initiative, so that public administrations can share and reuse open source solutions.
- Adding new features, with the aim of enhancing user experience and improving usability.
The outlook is clear: by the end of the year, the list will host hundreds of new solutions , with more and more member states actively joining the initiative.
Because it matters
Participation in the directory is not just a formal contribution. It offers multiple benefits:
- Strengthens collaboration and the exchange of knowledge between public bodies.
- Increases efficiency in public administration, reducing the need to develop tools from scratch.
- Contributes to Europe's digital sovereignty, promoting solutions based on open standards rather than closed platforms.
- Supports the implementation of Article 4 of the Interoperable Europe Regulation, which emphasizes interoperability and collaboration through open solutions.
How can someone get involved?
The European Commission calls on all public sector bodies to:
- Preparing solutions with publiccode.yml files – A technical specification that ensures that solutions can be easily included in the catalog.
- Contribute with new solutions or even entire directories for integration.
- Dissemination of the initiative in networks and communities, in order to strengthen participation.
- Active participation in events and online discussions organized by the EU to jointly shape the future of open source collaboration.
A vision for the future
The EU Open Source Catalogue is not just a repository. It is a hub for collaboration, innovation and digital transformation . By promoting cross-border interoperability and leveraging public investment in technologies, it contributes to creating a more connected, more sustainable and more digitally sovereign Europe.
Its success will depend on whether public administrations respond to the call: to share, collaborate and adopt open source solutions that will benefit the entire continent.
