Where: FOSDEM 2027, room to be announced
When: Sunday, 31st of January 2027, all day.
Deadline for submissions: 1st December 2026, noon CET
Where to submit: https://pretalx.fosdem.org/fosdem-2027/cfp
Introduction
The EU’s understanding of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) has evolved over the past few years. While, in some cases, these rules are still written with proprietary software and services in mind, in others, European Union (EU) lawmakers are increasingly considering not just the impact of their laws on FLOSS, but also how FLOSS can be leveraged to achieve their goals.
In this context APELL, Eclipse Foundation, Github, Linux Foundation Europe, Mozilla, NLNET Labs, Open Forum Europe, the Open Source Initiative, and OpenSSF, are delighted to invite you to submit a proposal for a talk, and join us for the 4th edition of the Open Source & EU Policy devroom on Sunday, January 31st 2027, to explore how FLOSS interacts with the EU, including how ongoing and upcoming EU laws could impact the FLOSS ecosystem, what we have to gain, what we have to lose, and what needs to change.
The devroom will focus on bringing together FLOSS communities and EU lawmakers, including Members of the European Parliament, and Staff from the Parliament and the Commission, helping lawmakers improve their laws and address major challenges, such as digital sovereignty and secure, interoperable technology; while giving FLOSS communities and the Digital Commons a place to raise concerns, propose improvements and changes, and figure out how best to prepare for and respond to policy proposals.
Topics covered
We welcome talks that explore topics such as:
- Recent and upcoming EU legislation and their interaction with Open Source and the Open Source community:
- Open Source and Tech Sovereignty, for example:
- The EU Open Source Strategy,
- The Cloud and AI Development Act,
- The Public Procurement Act,
- European Innovation Act.
- FLOSS as a public good in EU-funded research and public sector digital transformation.
- Open Source, Age Verification and Encryption, for example:
- Kids Act,
- Chat Control.
- European Standardisation.
- Platform regulation (DSA/DMA).
- Cybersecurity law.
- Policy engagement strategies from/for Open Source foundations, projects, and companies.
- Legal and compliance challenges for FLOSS communities.
- Security, transparency, and trust in the FLOSS ecosystem from a regulatory perspective.
- Stories from the field: real-world effects of EU policy on Open Source projects, and what policy can learn from Open Source.
- FLOSS as a solution to Europe’s problems, FLOSS for European democracy.
- Cross-border and global policy implications for FLOSS in the EU context.
- How developers and communities can engage meaningfully in the policymaking process.
Your proposal
This devroom aims to be accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences: no need to be a lawyer or a lobbyist, or a developer to participate. Please keep this in mind when preparing your talks! Our devroom also aims to be constructive, with a core goal being giving lawmakers and FLOSS communities a better understanding of one-another, hence we will particularly prioritise proposals which can be supported by the presence of relevant policymakers.
Please indicate your preferred format in your submission:
Session Types and Lengths:
- Standard talks (20 minutes, more time possible where justified) – deep dives, law presentations, case studies
- Panels (30-45 min) – cross-role discussions on a key topic about the role of OSS in EU policies
Deadline
We invite you to submit your proposals for talks by 1st December 2026 at noon CET at the latest. Kindly note that this deadline reflects the FOSDEM organisers’ timeline, so we will be unable to accept any submissions after it. We encourage you to submit your proposals as early as possible, as proposals will be evaluated on a rolling basis. We plan to publish the complete schedule for our developer room by 7 December (or earlier).