Report about policy related activities in the EU

The Document Foundation, thanks to the widespread popularity of LibreOffice, is recognized as one of the largest FOSS organizations worldwide, and especially in Europe (where the project was born over 20 years ago). Because of this, during the last couple of years TDF has been involved in several discussions about policies which can affect or are affecting the adoption of FOSS, or the freedom of users’ choice for hardware, operating systems and software. A freedom of choice which should be protected by laws, especially when involving public administrations (with a strong focus on schools and universities, where future citizens grow up).

In December 2022, TDF’s Board of Directors has decided to increase public policy related activities in the EU by sponsoring travels to events organized by Open Forum Europe (OFE) – an umbrella organization supporting FOSS at the EU in Brussels – and by the European Commission – including DIGIT, the department in charge of IT related policies – on this specific topic, and I have been assigned this task within the team.

So far, most of the activities have been focused on the amendment of the proposed Cyber Resilience Act or CRA (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/cyber-resilience-act), which – in the current version – would have a negative impact on FOSS in general. The first activity has been the drafting of a document commenting the CRA on the “Have Your Say” platform provided by the EC: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13410-Cyber-Resilience-Act_en. A summary of the most significant comments, including TDF’s comment, has been provided by OSI: https://blog.opensource.org/the-ultimate-list-of-reactions-to-the-cyber-resilience-act/.

In term of meetings, apart from regular meetings with representatives of other FOSS projects organized by OFE, just before FOSDEM I have attended OFE’s meeting in Brussels, and during FOSDEM a specific round table organized by FOSS organizations. In March, I have discussed the potentially negative impact of the CRA with representatives of DIGIT. In April, I will be at the meeting organized by the Swedish Government – temporary president of the European Commission – in Stockholm, where the Cyber Resilence Act will be a key topic. Hopefully, the joint efforts put in place during these months by FOSS foundations, communities and organizations will contribute to a better Cyber Resilience Act.