Germany Stack: Only Free Software Enables Digital Sovereignty
The “Germany Stack” is a central digital-policy project of the German federal government. The FSFE calls for the Stack to be planned in close coordination with European partners and to be implemented entirely as Free Software, since only the four freedoms enable digital sovereignty.
The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernisation is working on the so-called Germany Stack, which is intended to “create a sovereign, European-compatible and interoperable digital infrastructure for federal, state and local governments” as “national sovereign technology platform”. Until the end of November 2025, a public consultation is running, to which the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has today submitted a statement.
In this statement, we call for a strategic orientation of the Germany Stack based on the following principles:
- The Germany Stack must be published entirely as Free Software, granting everyone the right to use, study, share and improve the software. All components included must be under a Free Software licence.
- The Stack must be advanced in close cooperation with European partner countries and the EU. Instead of national go-it-alone approaches and silo stacks, we need Free Software solutions that are interoperable across Europe.
- Free Software requires secure, long-term budgets. Establishing the Germany Stack must go hand in hand with strategic funding for the development and maintenance of Free Software.
- Beyond the state and its administrations, European companies, civil society, and organisations from schools to volunteer fire brigades depend on digital sovereignty. The Stack must therefore be made available for reuse by non-state actors.
Free Software is the necessary prerequisite for sovereign digital infrastructures. Only the rights guaranteed by Free Software licences give the state control over the digital infrastructure it relies on. Only Free Software and open standards compatible with Free Software enable the highest level of interoperability and security. Only in this way can it be ensured that public authorities retain influence over the software products they deploy, and guarantee long-term access to the publicly funded code. Only the consistent use of Free Software enables the German state and its administrations to overcome existing critical dependencies on proprietary, mostly non-European software and to act in a sovereign manner.
The Germany Stack can only achieve its stated aim if it consistently relies on Free Software. A proprietary stack would merely replace existing dependencies with new ones. Proprietary software developed by manufacturers in Germany or Europe does not provide the necessary conditions for sovereignty, creates new lock-in effects, and can at any time be withdrawn from access by public authorities – for instance, if a manufacturer becomes insolvent or is bought by a non-European competitor. Trust issues also remain when the code is intransparent, and security bugs may persist if there is no right to fix the software. Defining availability as Free Software as a criterion for components of the Stack does not disadvantage manufacturers of proprietary software. Rather, this decision creates an incentive for all manufacturers to produce and publish Free Software, from which not only public administrations but also the European economy and society as a whole will benefit.
Studies show that governments and public administrations account for up to 27% of the turnover of software vendors. However, this turnover is predominantly generated by proprietary software manufacturers outside Europe. Strategic procurement of Free Software within the framework of the Germany Stack, by contrast, can stimulate the European market and industry and strengthen autonomy. A consistent use of Free Software in the Stack also creates spill-over effects for European companies and civil society, whose sovereignty is likewise strengthened through the use of Free Software.
Further arguments for Free Software in public administrations can be found in the FSFE’s statement submitted for the “Open Source” hearing in the German Bundestag’s Digital Committee on 04.11.2024. The consultation on the Germany Stack runs until 30 November 2025. Until then, everyone has the opportunity to provide well-founded feedback on openCode.