By Tom Shaw

Over the past year, a remarkable shift has been occurring in how Europe approaches digital technology. Many European countries are realizing the risks they are taking by being reliant on some of the biggest pro-centralizing forces in the world, and seeing it’s not worth it. Trump’s 2025 sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), imposed when the ICC was not willing to take the same line on Israel as the U.S., led to Microsoft rapidly pulling email and other services from judges in The Hague, preventing them from doing their jobs.

One of our October Money & Markets highlighted this development in the context of the broader geopolitics and economics at play. Russia, China, and other non-Western nations are already used to U.S.-controlled tech being weaponized against them, including SWIFT and GPS. Eastern nations are already deep into the transition away from using compromised Western services. European leaders are taking note that being beholden to the U.S. tech superpowers is not good for their sovereignty, and they seem to be pivoting accordingly.

France was one of the first countries to see that a shift needed to happen. The French government first announced its La Suite Numérique initiative in 2024, aiming to replace proprietary programs and software owned by Microsoft and other U.S. tech giants with its own open-source projects whose code can be publicly audited. 2026 is bearing the fruits of this project, including the launch of Visio—a free, open-source equivalent to Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Visio joins a growing number of open-source services developed by the French government, including Tchap for instant messaging, Messagerie for emails, and FranceTransfert and Fichiers for file-sharing.

But France hasn’t stopped there. In April this year, the French announced that they will replace Microsoft Windows on all government computers with an open-source Linux alternative, as part of a mandate that will see France reorganize its entire approach to digital programs, including collaboration tools, antivirus software, AI platforms, databases, virtualization systems, and network equipment.

France’s move is inspiring other European nations to take similar actions. The Dutch government is also ditching Windows in favor of the Dutch-developed NixOS, along with using its own Forgejo code-sharing service to replace Microsoft-owned GitHub. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is moving all its government operations from Microsoft Office to the free, open-source LibreOffice. Denmark’s Ministry of Digital Affairs is doing the same. Switzerland, Italy, and Austria are also replacing Microsoft programs in various government departments.

The Solari Report still has questions about these governments’ likely collection of personal data, given that they are otherwise supporting many aspects of installing global digital surveillance. Software being “open source” alone does not guarantee that it fully respects users’ data and privacy, but the fact that the code can be fully audited is a deterrent against malicious data collection. However, there’s a greater advantage for the European countries making this change; millions of their citizens will see that life outside of closed-source U.S. digital control is not only possible, but favorable. As the open-source ecosystem becomes healthier and larger, it makes it easier for individuals around the world to get rid of Big Tech products. Using privacy-oriented phones, computers with Linux-based operating systems, or even locally stored, open-source AI are much easier steps for people to take if they see others doing the same and know that they can access all the services and features they need.

Just as the Solari Report encourages “coming clean” from the centralizing forces trying to control health, money, and community, so, too, should this be the case for the technology we use. If entire European governments show that it’s possible, then it’s possible for individuals to do the same.