Euro-Office launches as a European alternative to Microsoft Office

In short: Euro-Office is a new European office software bundle that aims to reduce Europe’s reliance on Microsoft Office.

What happened

Euro-Office has been launched by a coalition of European technology companies, large organizations, and community groups. The goal is to offer a homegrown alternative to Microsoft Office and support “digital sovereignty,” which means keeping more control of important digital tools and data inside Europe.

Euro-Office includes familiar work tools such as document editing, spreadsheets, slide presentations, email, calendars, cloud storage (online file storage, like a digital locker), and video calls. It is built on an open-source foundation, meaning the underlying code can be inspected and improved by others, like a recipe that is shared publicly instead of kept secret.

The project is headquartered in The Hague and was founded in 2024. Office.eu, which is closely associated with Euro-Office, has reported nearly 15,000 people applied for early access. A phased rollout is planned for Q2 2026, meaning access will expand in stages rather than all at once.

A key selling point is where data is handled. The group says the service will be hosted entirely in European data centers, with privacy and transparency as priorities. European leaders have pointed to worries about depending too heavily on US software providers, including the risk of losing control over data or facing service disruptions.

Why it matters

Office software is where many people store and edit everyday work, from budgets to contracts. Euro-Office is part of a broader push to keep sensitive information and essential services closer to home, especially for governments and regulated industries.

Source: Financial Times