Nextcloud and partners name the start date for the controversial Euro Office

Euro-Office, the new European open source alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Docs, is in the starting blocks. The office suite promises digital sovereignty, but is already being overshadowed by a serious licensing dispute.

Starting signal for Euro Office

The first final version is scheduled for June 9, 2026 Open source office software Euro-Office appears. A coalition of European IT companies wants to publish the package via the GitHub platform. The free web application is aimed at companies, authorities and educational institutions in the European Union and is intended as an alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Docs. The aim of the project is to strengthen digital sovereignty in Europe. Organizations should receive a local solution to become more independent of cloud services from the USA.

The developers rely on a familiar user interface with classic ribbons to make the transition easier. The formats supported include DOCX, XLSX and ODF.

Integration instead of isolated solutions

Like the software company Nextcloud announced that Euro-Office should be able to be integrated into existing systems. Nextcloud Hub users can use word processing and spreadsheets directly in the browser. Providers such as Ionos and XWiki are also planning to integrate it into their hosting offers. The software is initially web-based. According to developers, the performance in the browser should be better than that of classic solutions such as LibreOffice. Native applications for desktop and smartphones are not planned at launch and will only follow next year. Features include collaborative document editing, chat, and version control.

Dispute over the source code

The project is accompanied by legal disputes. Euro-Office is based on a fork of the OnlyOffice software. Their developers accuse the consortium of copyright violations, including because of the removal of brand logos in the code. The collaboration was ended. The European developers reject the allegations and consider the license requirements to be invalid. Despite internal tensions, the project sticks to its publication date and relies on acceptance in administration and organizations.