The French government organized an interministerial seminar on Wednesday to accelerate the reduction of its dependence on non-European digital technologies, with the key measure being the announcement of migrating workstations at the Interministerial Directorate of Digital (DINUM) from Windows to Linux.
The event, initiated by the Prime Minister, brought together ministries, public operators, and private actors for a coordinated approach involving the Directorate General of Enterprises (DGE), the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI), and the State Procurement Directorate (DAE).
In this context, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, David Amiel, stated that the state could no longer accept its data, infrastructure, and strategic decisions depending on solutions it does not control, including rules, prices, evolution, and risks. He called for “regaining control of our digital destiny.”
Linux is an open-source operating system with freely accessible source code, unlike Windows, owned by the American group Microsoft and installed on over a billion devices worldwide in its Windows 11 version. The French National Gendarmerie is one of the few large-scale precedents for such a transition within the state apparatus. When asked, Microsoft declined to comment on the announcement.
The migration of workstations from DINUM to Linux is the first step of a broader plan. Each ministry, including public operators, will be required to formalize its own reduction plan by autumn 2026, covering seven areas: workstations, collaborative tools, antivirus, artificial intelligence, databases, virtualization, and network equipment.
Among other committed measures is the migration of 80,000 Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie (CNAM) agents to interministerial foundation tools, the messaging service Tchap, the video conferencing tool Visio, and the document transfer platform FranceTransfert. The migration of the national health data platform to sovereign hosting is planned by the end of 2026.
These announcements follow recent decisions, such as the switch from Microsoft Teams to Visio, a tool based on the open-source solution Jitsi. The government also aims to rely on interoperability standards, including the Open-Interop and OpenBuro initiatives, to unite public and private actors around shared projects. The “Digital Industry Meetings” organized by DINUM in June 2026 aim to formalize a “public-private alliance for European sovereignty.”
Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology, Anne Le Hénaff, emphasized that “digital sovereignty is not an option, it is a strategic necessity,” stating that France is leading by example in transitioning to sovereign, interoperable, and sustainable solutions.
This initiative comes amidst increasing tensions between Europe and Washington since the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January 2025. In January, the European Parliament adopted a report requesting the European Commission to identify areas where the EU can reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers. Other member states, including Spain and Germany, have already embarked on similar transitions. Observers and experts, however, highlight the complexity of such migration projects.
