EUPL | Interoperable Europe Portal

This EUPL collection focuses on open licensing. It includes the European Union Public Licence, a Licensing Assistant, and guidance for IT developers, practitioners, and users to define the conditions for sharing and reusing software.

Discover the European Union Public Licence (EUPL) and its impact on open source licensing. Explore the evolution of free/open source software (F/OSS or FLOSS) legal frameworks—from early drafts to the latest EUPL versions—and how they support public administration and broader software freedom initiatives.

According to the Interoperable Europe Act (8.4) public sector portals of open source solutions and connected to the Interoperable Europe Portal shall allow for the use of the EUPL.

Discover more here

EUPL documentation & guidelines

Learn about the EUPL—explore guidelines, documents, and FAQs

Licensing Assistant

Learn how to select and compare open licenses using the Licensing Assistant

Online courses

Discover our eLearning courses about the EUPL and Open Licences

Discussion area

Join the conversation on the EUPL and open source licensing

Understanding the EUPL and Open Licensing

The European Union Public Licence (EUPL) is the first open-source licence with a working value in all EU official languages. It is reasonably "share-alike/reciprocal," like the LGPL, but also covers remote distribution.

Everyone in the world (and not Europeans only): IT developers, practitioners, and users who need guidance in defining the conditions under which a solution may be freely shared and reused, considering the legal framework.

Clear licensing rules form the regulatory basis for sharing and reusing software solutions while supporting legal interoperability. While the EUPL ensures these principles, other licences may also facilitate compatibility and interoperability.

By Decision C (2021) 8759, the EUPL is provided for European Commission distributed software.
According to the Interoperable Europe Act (8.4) all public sector portals providing open source solutions shall allow for the use of the EUPL.

Got questions about using the EUPL? Visit our FAQ for answers!

Latest updates

Last update: 05/07/2023

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You accept that your software could be "appropriated" by third parties, who could possibly re-distribute it (or create larger / derivative works) under the licence of their choice (including...

Last update: 13/10/2017

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You have opted for Open Source Distribution (one of the conditions to be hosted on OSOR!). Do you want to authorise the "appropriation" of your software by third parties? These third parties (i.e...

Last update: 11/10/2017

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You authorise recipients to modify your program... In addition, can they also (re-) distribute it to anyone? Such distribution must be without restriction / discrimination (i.e. "only for non...

Last update: 05/07/2023

Wiz-01

If you have full copyright on your software or if your program includes components that were licensed to you under permissive open source conditions the distribution licence can be freely selected: Do...

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