Strategic independence from US software

Question for written answer E-001618/2025/rev. 1 to the Commission Rule 144 Per Clausen (The Left) Subject: Strategic independence from US software Today, both the EU and its Member States are heavily dependent on US firms’ IT solutions. Not only does that dependence constitute a strategic vulnerability; continued dependence also means that, every year, large amounts of European public funds are transferred to software firms in the US instead of contributing to building a competitive European IT sector. The present geopolitical situation makes it clear that the EU needs to be independent from the US in a number of areas, including technology. A number of countries have become alive to the problem; and the German Government, for example, is working to disengage the German defence setup from software from Microsoft and similar firms. 1 In the light of this: 1. What is the estimated amount of money that could be saved if just half of EU and Member State public bodies switched to open-source IT solutions costing half of what is currently paid in licences and the like to US tech giants? 2. How many US-owned or -based software programmes does the Commission currently use? Submitted: 23.4.2025 1 https://zendis.de/ressourcen/bwi-und-zendis-schliessen-rahmenvertrag-ueber-souveraene-kommunikations- und-kollaborationsloesungen PE773.018v02-00