It is called Association Professionnelle Européenne du Logiciel Libre and in its formation the Association of Portuguese Open Source Software Companies (ESOP) was involved.
[dropcap type=”default”]T[/dropcap]he aim of the new OSS professional association, the Association Professionnelle Européenne du Logiciel Libre (APELL), is to give European open-source software (OSS) a voice and to raise European legislators’ awareness of the importance of the sector.
The Association has three founding members, with associations from France, Germany and Finland, in addition to other business associations from various countries, including the Portuguese ESOP – Portuguese Open Source Software Companies Association.
Stéfane Fermigier, founding member, explains that APELL presents itself as the “new essential intermediary between national representative organizations of open source and EU institutions”, aiming to strengthen cooperation between European companies in this sector.
At a time when ESOP guarantees that in Europe the sector is made up mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the co-chairman of the Conseil National du Logiciel Libre considers it imperative that the “Commission and the other European institutions recognize that their actions, plans and policies to support open source should focus on supporting SMEs“.
