Supporting public administrations open source sharing and reuse
The European Commission has published a new report setting out practical strategies to overcome the barriers that still limit the sharing and reuse of open source software across the public sector.
The publication comes at a decisive moment for Europe’s digital agenda. On 3 June 2026, the Commission adopted the EU Technological Sovereignty Package, accompanied by a new EU Open Source Strategy, recognising open source as a key pillar of Europe’s digital autonomy, resilience and competitiveness. The new report directly supports these ambitions by helping public administrations turn open source potential into practical, scalable reuse.
Developed in the context of the ongoing work on the expansion of the EU Open Source Solutions Catalogue under the FOSSEPS Preparatory Action, the report provides a clear overview of the technical, legal, organisational, cultural and strategic barriers that public sector bodies face when sharing and reusing open source solutions. It also offers short practical guidance to help administrations identify, assess, adapt and sustain reusable software in a fast-changing digital environment.
Understanding the barriers to reuse
Across Europe, public administrations increasingly recognise the transformative potential of open source software. It can reduce duplication, increase transparency, improve interoperability, strengthen digital sovereignty and support more efficient public services. Yet cross-border sharing and reuse remain uneven.
The report shows that reuse is rarely blocked by a single obstacle. Instead, it is shaped by a complex interplay of technical, legal, organisational, cultural and political factors that determine whether existing solutions are discovered, trusted and adopted. Even mature and well-established open source solutions can be difficult to reuse when local requirements, governance structures, technical environments or procurement practices differ.
Technical readiness remains a major factor. Solutions that are not designed with modularity in mind, rely on inconsistent standards or lack clear documentation can be difficult to assess, adapt and integrate. Reuse becomes significantly easier when solutions follow shared technical practices, include accessible metadata and are supported by clear documentation and open standards.
Legal clarity is equally important. Uncertainty around licensing, intellectual property rights, procurement rules and liability can discourage administrations from reusing existing solutions, particularly in risk-averse environments. Without clear guidance, open source may be seen as administratively complex, even when it offers clear strategic and operational benefits.
Organisational capacity is another recurring challenge. Limited in-house expertise, dependence on established vendor relationships, unclear ownership and insufficient long-term maintenance planning can all hinder reuse. These challenges are often amplified by cultural perceptions, including misconceptions about open source, limited awareness of available solutions and concerns about accountability or security.
The report also underlines the importance of political and strategic support. Where leadership actively promotes collaboration, interoperability and reuse, administrations are more likely to invest in adopting and maintaining shared solutions. Where this support is absent, reuse often remains fragmented and dependent on individual initiative.
From barriers to action
The report makes clear that these barriers can be overcome when technical practices, legal frameworks and organisational approaches evolve together.
Practical measures include promoting open standards and specifications, encouraging modular design, improving documentation, strengthening metadata and making better use of tools such as publiccode.yml. These steps make solutions easier to find, compare, evaluate and adapt. The report also highlights the importance of clearer guidance on licensing and procurement, stronger in-house skills and more structured governance. Dedicated open source roles, programme offices or communities of practice can help administrations manage reuse more confidently and sustainably.
Crucially, these changes do not require administrations to redesign their entire digital operating model overnight. Incremental improvements can build capacity over time. By embedding open source principles into procurement, governance, technical development and maintenance practices, public administrations can move from isolated examples of reuse towards a more systematic European approach.
The role of the EU OSS Catalogue
In this broader context, the EU Open Source Solutions Catalogue plays a central role.
As a shared discovery point for public sector open source solutions, the Catalogue helps administrations identify reusable software, understand its maturity and connect with solution owners. Through structured metadata and common onboarding requirements, including the use of publiccode.yml, it improves the visibility, comparability and reusability of open source solutions across Europe.
The Catalogue addresses several barriers at once. It helps reduce limited awareness, improves discoverability, supports trust-building and encourages collaboration across administrative and national boundaries. It also contributes to a more coherent European open source ecosystem, where solutions developed in one context can more easily create value in another.
Supporting Europe’s technological sovereignty
The report’s findings are closely aligned with the Commission’s new EU Open Source Strategy, adopted as part of the Tech Sovereignty Package. The package aims to strengthen Europe’s capacity in critical digital areas including semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source, while reducing dependence on non-EU providers.
Open source plays a distinctive role in this agenda. It enables transparency, interoperability, auditability and shared control. For public administrations, it also offers a practical route to avoid duplication, pool investment and build common digital capabilities across borders. By identifying the barriers that prevent reuse and proposing concrete ways to address them, the report contributes directly to Europe’s wider objective of building open, interoperable and sovereign digital ecosystems.