After 100 days: Germany’s government still lacks a Free Software push
On 14 August 2025, Germany’s government marks 100 days in office. CDU, CSU, and SPD had pledged ambitious Free Software goals. Yet it remains unclear what these goals actually are, how they will be achieved, and what role Free Software will play in securing Germany’s technological sovereignty.
In February, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) called on the incoming government to make the controllability, security, and sovereignty of public digital infrastructures a top priority, and to achieve this by consistently using Free Software (also known as Open Source). Our core demands: “Public Money? Public Code!”, secure long-term funding for Free Software, capacity building, and statistical monitoring of progress. We need a genuine political push to turn the “Public Money? Public Code!” vision into reality: All public funding for software must be for Free Software only!
100 days after the government took office, it is time to take stock.
Procurement reform: Free Software must be prioritised
Only days ago, on 6 August 2025, the Federal Cabinet adopted a draft law to accelerate public procurement procedures, aiming to make them more efficient, flexible, and digital. While the draft includes the possibility to consider digital sovereignty in tender criteria, it fails to seize the opportunity to prioritise and simplify the procurement of Free Software for public administrations. It is now up to the governing parliamentary groups in the Bundestag to strengthen the draft.
The FSFE calls for the “Public Money? Public Code!” principle to be firmly embedded in public procurement, by giving Free Software clear priority. This is the only way to end structural dependence on proprietary software and its vendors, and to achieve true technological sovereignty. Public administrations should also be obliged to regularly measure and publish the share of Free Software in all software they procure, commission, or develop. This would make progress measurable and help detect undesirable developments.
“Germany Stack”: National solo effort instead of European cooperation?
By 2028, the government aims to present a “Germany Stack” – a unified IT architecture with base components such as cloud software and clearly defined interfaces, according to Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger. But focusing on a purely national IT stack is a dead end. Instead, European member states should become partners, aiming for joint procurement and development with a focus on interoperability and sharing solutions without reinventing the wheel over and over again. Without coordination and collaboration at EU level, the stack risks becoming an isolated project.
It is also unclear whether the stack will be developed as Free Software at all. Transparency is lacking: At a first, non-public interim presentation in early July, representatives from civil society, Free Software projects and their communites were excluded.
The FSFE calls on the government to think and act at the European level in developing an IT stack – working with European partners on a joint stack rather than investing resources into a questionable national solo effort. In any case, the Federal Ministry for Digitalisation and State Modernisation (BMDS) must commit to Free Software and to open standards compatible with Free Software, in order to create a real alternative to proprietary products. Civil society and the Free Software business sector must be involved from the outset to make use of existing expertise, foster acceptance, and drive genuine change towards technological sovereignty – at federal, state, and municipal levels, and across Europe.
Federal budget: No secure, long-term funding for Free Software
After the presentation of the 2025 federal budget and the Bundestag’s budget debate, it remains unclear how the government will ensure secure, long-term funding for Free Software. There is no sign of a strategic reallocation of the opulent spending on proprietary licences towards Free Software in line with the “Public Money? Public Code!” principle. The budgets for federal Free Software initiatives also remain precarious, with far too little funding foreseen in the Ministry of the Interior’s budget.
The FSFE demands that the government provide secure, permanent funding for Free Software in the public sector. In addition to a procurement shift, this requires targeted financial support for Free Software in central digital infrastructures. This must be clearly reflected in this and all future federal budgets. Furthermore, the still-to-be-prepared BMDS budget must include reliable funding for the tasks of the Centre for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS), enabling it to support public administrations on their path to technological sovereignty through Free Software.
“If the German government is serious about digital sovereignty, it must commit to Free Software. Only Free Software ensures vendor independence, interoperability, and the freedom to innovate,” says Johannes Näder, Senior Policy Project Manager at the FSFE. “This requires secure, long-term funding for Free Software and for the federal government’s own Free Software initiatives, especially ZenDiS. Free Software must be given priority in public procurement under the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ principle. And any IT stack will only succeed if it is developed entirely as Free Software – not in a national silo, but in close cooperation with the EU, other Member States, and the Free Software ecosystem.”
Background: The government’s own commitments
The newly created Digital Ministry was established to serve as a driver of digital transformation and a modern, capable administration. Free Software was meant to play an important role. In their coalition agreement, CDU, CSU, and SPD pledged:
“We will define open interfaces and open standards across all levels and strategically promote Open Source with private and public actors in the European ecosystem. […] To this end, we will strategically align our IT budget and define ambitious goals for Open Source.”
In May 2025, at the re:publica conference, Minister Wildberger reaffirmed this goal, saying that Free Software and open standards should become the “guiding principle of the federal government’s digital infrastructure.” In this context, the government plans to establish a new Digital Agency under the BMDS, bringing together ZenDiS and the DigitalService, and potentially other currently independent bodies.
The minister’s appearance at re:publica to engage with a critical community was a welcome first step. Now it must be followed by genuine, institutionalised participation of civil society. This is essential for a digital transformation of public administration that benefits everyone and makes Germany and Europe economically strong and fit for the future. The time to act is now.
Free Software and "Public Money? Public Code!"
Free Software gives everyone the right to use, study, share, and improve applications for any purpose. These four freedoms ensure that similar applications do not have to be programmed from scratch every time and, thanks to transparent processes, others do not have to reinvent the wheel. In large projects, expertise and costs can be shared and applications are available to all. This promotes innovation and saves taxpayers money in the future. Dependencies on vendors are minimised and security issues can be fixed more easily. The Free Software Foundation Europe, together with over 200 organisations and administrations, is therefore calling for “Public Money? Public Code!” - If it is public money, it should be public code as well! More information on the initiative is available on the "Public Money? Public Code!" website.