La Comisión Europea ha publicado un documento en el que asume oficialmente su preferencia hacia los programas de código abierto para los nuevos proyectos tecnológicos. La Comisión Europea ya presentó un documento favorable a estos programas en el año 2000, aunque ésta es la primera vez en que se admite una preferencia, aunque sea a título puramente informativo. Esto quiere decir que no tiene valor ejecutivo, con lo que ninguna empresa podrá demandar al Ejecutivo de Bruselas si escoge un software propietario en lugar de soluciones libres.

La Comisión quiere también promover todos los productos que soporten los estándares abiertos: “La interoperabilidad es un asunto crucial para la Comisión y para conseguirlo resulta fundamental usar estándares abiertos y bien documentados”.
http://cirl.unex.es/index.php?seccion=noticias&id=345

Más información disponible en http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7403/469

EU: European Commission to increase its use of Open Source
Open Source News - 11 March 2008 - EU and Europe-wide - Policies and Announcements
The European Commission will take a more pro-active approach to its own use of Open Source.
In a document published last week, the EC states among others that the Commission will prefer Open Source software for its new IT projects: “For all new development, where deployment and usage is foreseen by parties outside of the Commission Infrastructure, Open Source Software will be the preferred development and deployment platform.”
According to the document, the EC is an early adopter of Open Source. A first strategy document on this type of software was presented in 2000. However, it is for the first time the European Commission publishes such a document. Valerie Rampie, spokesperson or Siim Kallas, the European commissioner who is responsible for administrative affairs, said the publication of the strategy is “mainly for information purposes”.
The EC writes that its IT community early last year had adopted its Open Source strategy after “a thorough consultation within the community”. Next from stating its preference for Open Source for new projects. the EC decided that “for all future IT developments and procurement procedures, the Commission shall promote the use of products that support open, well-documented standards. Interoperability is a critical issue for the Commission, and usage of well-established open standards is a key factor to achieve and endorse it.
The Commission expects to reinforce its internal strategy with its external projects on Open Source, part of its IDABC programme on interoperable e-Government services. “Open Source software plays an important role in e-Government projects and interoperability in the broader sense.”