European Governments Shift from Microsoft to Open-Source Software for Digital Sovereignty

Few developments in European government IT have made as many international waves as the current trend of public institutions ditching Microsoft software in favor of open-source alternatives. This phenomenon, which recently accelerated with high-profile moves by Denmark and Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein, is about much more than licensing costs or the latest office suite features. It signals a profound reassessment of digital sovereignty, vendor lock-in, geopolitical risk, and the very foundation of public digital infrastructure. But what’s really driving this change, what challenges await, and could this mark a lasting pivot away from the Microsoft ecosystem for governments across the continent?

A Continental Shift Away from the Microsoft Monopoly​

For decades, Microsoft’s hold on European public sector IT was virtually unshakeable. Products like Windows, Office 365, and Outlook became embedded in the daily workflows of millions of civil servants, teachers, police, and judges. The vendor’s dominance was buttressed by long-term licensing contracts, integration with legacy systems, and entrenched user habits.
But recent years have seen the first real cracks emerge in Microsoft's public sector monopoly. Most notably, Denmark’s Ministry for Digital Affairs formally launched a program in 2025 to replace Windows and Office 365 with Linux and LibreOffice, initially for half its employees—with a goal of rolling out to all by autumn. This strategic pivot isn’t an isolated experiment. Denmark’s two largest cities, Copenhagen and Aarhus, have announced similar intentions, spurred by concerns over cost, data control, and reliance on foreign providers.
Meanwhile, in Germany, the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein has initiated one of the largest migrations of its kind. Roughly 30,000 public sector employees—including civil servants, police, and judiciary—will have transitioned away from all Microsoft platforms by 2025. The replacements: Linux for operating systems, LibreOffice for productivity, Open-Xchange for messaging and collaboration, and a public cloud managed within German borders.

France, Italy, and Early Movers​

France also sounded the alarm in 2022, with the Ministry of National Education warning schools away from free versions of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, instead urging institutions to select solutions compatible with the EU’s tough privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Italy’s Ministry of Defence completed a significant migration back in 2015, transitioning over 100,000 systems to LibreOffice and the open document format (ODF) to cut costs and secure data autonomy. Spain’s Valencia region made a similar leap as early as 2012. Together, these disparate efforts are converging into a continental movement.

The New Watchword: Digital Sovereignty​

What links these varied initiatives is a focus on “digital sovereignty”—the right and the technical means for a country to control its own data, infrastructure, and digital services, independent of foreign commercial interests or legal jurisdictions.
Denmark’s Digital Affairs Minister, Caroline Stage, articulated it succinctly: “We should not turn our backs completely on global technology companies... But we must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable.” Translated from Danish, her words reflect a growing sentiment across European capitals: sovereignty is about more than just physical infrastructure.
For Schleswig-Holstein, the driving fear is that “political fallout” or abrupt vendor decisions could one day cut governments off from critical platforms—whether email, productivity tools, or cloud services. The war in Ukraine and international incidents such as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court losing access to a Microsoft account due to U.S. sanctions have brought such deterrence into sharp relief.

EU Regulation and the Interoperable Europe Act​

The European Union itself has become a major catalyst. The GDPR enshrined stringent privacy rules that many U.S.-based software giants struggle to meet. Recent policies like the Interoperable Europe Act (enforced from 2024) explicitly encourage governments to favor open standards and open-source software, aiming to bolster cross-border digital cooperation while shrinking reliance on any single vendor.

Why Now? Economic, Political, and Technical Drivers​

Cost Pressures and Vendor Lock-In​

While digital sovereignty is the headline, practical concerns abound. Microsoft’s enterprise contracts often feature opaque pricing, rigid upgrade cycles, and the ever-present risk of “vendor lock-in.” When public sector budgets come under strain, unanticipated licensing hikes or forced hardware upgrades can prompt a search for alternatives.
Schleswig-Holstein, for instance, forecasts savings running into tens of millions of euros thanks to open-source adoption—though this will depend on careful implementation and robust support for users. Spain, France, and Italy have all reported meaningful cost reductions after making the leap.
Open-source software, lacking per-user licensing, offers clear fiscal benefits. LibreOffice and Linux can often run on older hardware, bypassing Microsoft’s hardware obsolescence policies. Additionally, using open platforms can incentivize Microsoft and its rivals to introduce more flexible, competitive pricing and licensing terms for public sector clients.

Data Privacy, Compliance, and Security​

European governments increasingly cite U.S. surveillance laws, such as the Cloud Act, as a threat to their citizens’ privacy—even when data is stored in European datacenters but controlled by an American company. Open-source alternatives enable local data hosting and complete code auditability: key advantages for meeting GDPR and other regional standards.
Security is frequently touted as an open-source strength. The logic: publicly viewable code makes backdoors unlikely and facilitates rapid patching of vulnerabilities. However, as supporters acknowledge, benefit depends on the health and activity of open-source communities, and the ability of governments to contract for timely updates and support.

Building Local Skills and Resilience​

Another emerging benefit is the development of digital skills within national borders. Open-source migrations require specialized in-house expertise, prompting new hiring, retraining, and sometimes the growth of local software consultancies. In Denmark and elsewhere, officials see this as both an enabler of resilience and a way to foster a vibrant domestic IT ecosystem.

Will Open Source Replace Microsoft? The Reality on the Ground​

Implementation: Measured Ambition and Contingency Planning​

Despite the high-profile announcements, most governments are moving with caution. Denmark’s phased approach, for instance, begins with half of ministry staff switching to Linux and LibreOffice, followed by the other half months later—while maintaining the ability to rapidly revert to Microsoft if disruptions threaten critical workflows.
Such flexibility is critical. The daunting logistical and technical task of a government-wide migration has tripped up projects in the past—notably Munich, whose celebrated switch to Linux was partially reversed after staff discontent and technical challenges mounted. Lessons learned point to the central importance of user training, change management, and a strong support infrastructure.

Replacing the Microsoft Suite​

For both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, the current migration covers multiple layers of public sector IT:

• Operating System: Linux distributions replace Windows. Choices vary—Ubuntu, Debian, and others offer user-friendly, mature environments.
• Productivity Suite: LibreOffice substitutes for Word, Excel, PowerPoint. It now offers solid compatibility with Microsoft file formats, though macro support and complex formatting remain imperfect.
• Email & Collaboration: Open-Xchange and Thunderbird provide email, calendar, and messaging, countering entrenched reliance on Outlook and Teams.
• Cloud Storage: Nextcloud for secure, self-hosted file sharing.
• Public Cloud: Sensitive data migrates from Microsoft Azure to local/German-run clouds to ensure compliance and national control.

What About Compatibility?​

True workflow independence from Microsoft remains aspirational in many contexts. While LibreOffice now rivals Microsoft Office for many standard documents, stumbling blocks persist:

• Complex spreadsheets with advanced macros may require manually rewriting or process changes.
• Document formatting sometimes varies between platforms, causing friction if workflows require frequent exchange with partners using Microsoft products.
• Sector-specific applications—legal, engineering, or financial—are often unavailable or poorly supported on Linux.

Consequently, governments usually begin with “low-hanging fruit.” Back-office functions and internal communications are migrated first, with cloud and specialized desktop applications addressed later or maintained in parallel.

Mixed Motives and Mixed Results: European Precedents​

Not all migrations have succeeded. Munich’s LiMux project was heavily publicized as a showcase for municipal digital independence in the 2000s, but was later rolled back amid user pushback, political lobbying, and maintenance of costly parallel systems. The chief lesson: change management, user training, and the integration of essential features must be non-negotiable priorities.
By contrast, France’s National Gendarmerie has run Linux successfully for over fifteen years, reporting both cost savings and greater operational independence. Italy’s Defence Ministry, too, is often cited as a successful model. The spread of “best practices” will determine if Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, and their peers can break this cycle of oscillation.

The Regulatory Tailwinds and New EU Mandates​

The arrival of the Interoperable Europe Act in 2024 now sets legal requirements for considering open-source first—ensuring interoperability within and across borders, and compelling public sector bodies to evaluate alternatives to closed-source vendors. This regulatory push gives new momentum, funding, and legitimacy to open-source migrations that might otherwise face local resistance and inertia.

Strengths and Opportunities: What Sways Governments​

Enhanced Control Over Data​

Open-source tools, being auditable, modifiable, and hostable on local infrastructure, give governments unprecedented control over data location and access. This mitigates fears of foreign influence or compliance failure amid changing geopolitical climates.

Breaking the Vendor Lock​

Open-source migration is potent leverage against the risk of perpetual licensing, sharp price escalations, and support withdrawal. Governments gain the ability—at least in theory—to adapt tools to their unique policy and regulatory needs, without being hostage to a single corporate roadmap.

Promoting Skills and Innovation​

Migrations like Denmark’s and Schleswig-Holstein’s build national digital skills and foster local software markets. They cultivate IT teams capable not just of configuring tools, but innovating and maintaining them—critical in an era of rapid technological and regulatory change.

Strategic Resilience​

Controlling digital infrastructure provides readiness against political or legal disruptions—a consideration that is no longer theoretical, but supported by recent European and global developments.

The Risks: Compatibility, Support, and User Resistance​

Compatibility and Ecosystem Gaps​

Although LibreOffice and other open-source suites cover most general productivity use cases, full compatibility with Microsoft formats—especially those involving macros, forms, or advanced automation—is not guaranteed. Some legacy applications or workflows may have no direct open-source analogues, requiring custom workarounds or hybrid environments.

Change Management and Training​

Technical excellence alone does not guarantee success. Staff resistance, inefficient workflows, and productivity dips are common when ingrained habits are disrupted. Only strong change management, intensive retraining, and clear communications mitigate these risks. Munich’s experience serves as a clear cautionary tale, as does Denmark’s insistence on reversible migration plans.

Support Structure​

Support for open-source solutions, while increasingly robust, is less centralized and commercialized than that offered by Microsoft or Google. Public bodies often need to contract specialized consultancies, participate in open-source communities, or even sponsor feature development to ensure timely support and security.

Project Reversal​

Historically, implementation failures—caused by insufficient support, workflow disruption, or inadequate planning—can lead to costly reversals. These mixed results, as seen in Munich and small municipalities, are a reminder of the immense complexity of "ditching Microsoft for good."

Industry Dynamics: Microsoft’s Response and the Shifting Market​

Microsoft has often responded to European government migrations by rolling out custom contracts, pricing incentives, and targeted lobbying. It has also evolved its products, pivoting toward hybrid and cloud-based solutions (such as Microsoft 365) and embracing open standards as regulatory half-measures.
Simultaneously, the tech giant faces growing regulatory scrutiny, antitrust probes, and demands for more open, interoperable architectures—pressures fueled by the very departures underway in Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, and beyond.
Google and other U.S. rivals face similar hurdles due to data sovereignty concerns, while European open-source consultancies and software houses are fast filling the void.

What Success Could Look Like—and Why the World Is Watching​

For Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, and the advancing coalition of digitally ambitious European governments, success isn’t simply measured in terabytes migrated or licensing fees saved. Ultimate victory means:

• Long-term resilience and adaptability, even amid regulatory or geopolitical shocks.
• Capacity-building, creating skilled, in-country IT professionals able to sustain, customize, and evolve public sector digital infrastructure.
• European technological leadership, showing that world-class alternatives to Silicon Valley tech giants can thrive under open standards and community-driven development models.

Conclusion: The High Stakes of Digital Autonomy​

Europe’s shift away from Microsoft software in its public sector is about so much more than office productivity. It is a pivotal test of national resilience, economic prudence, and technological self-determination. By experimenting with open-source alternatives, countries like Denmark and Germany are challenging decades of software orthodoxy, spurred on by regulatory mandates and the evolving realities of an interconnected, often adversarial, digital world.
But ambition alone does not guarantee success. The true test will unfold not merely in migration benchmarks, but in the willingness of governments to invest in training, support, and the continuous improvement of their new toolchains. For digitally minded policymakers worldwide, this is a moment to watch: a rare, real-world experiment in what it means to claim true sovereignty in the digital age. Whether it becomes a new normal or a cautionary tale will be written in the years to come.

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Source: SlashGear Some European Countries Are Ditching Microsoft Software For Good (And Here's Why That Matters) - SlashGear