EU Needs Its Own Operating System, Finnish Minister Says

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The EU needs its own operating system for independence and security, Finnish minister Katri Kulmuni said.

(Image credit: Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock)

Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni wants the European Union (EU) to develop its own operating system and web browser, as reported by AP News this week. Kulmuni argued that this would "make our continent less vulnerable" and lower its dependence "on a few companies."

This news does not come as a surprise, as there have been long, ongoing debates about the security risks of the global IT infrastructure being hugely dependent on two big giants. 

“In practice, being self-sufficient in the cyber world means, for example, creating a European operating system and www-browser. The EU could also act as the issuer of digital certificates,” Kulmuni said.

Kulmuni's hopes of an EU-specific OS and browser are also tied to cyber security concerns. She noted that in this space the U.S. and China are better-equipped. 

The EU isn't the only body concerned about security risks from tech companies, of course. The Trump administration has its eyes on Huawei, worried about 5G developments at the Chinese manufacturer due to concerns of espionage. Other countries in the EU, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, also have trepidation about Huawei.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

28 Comments Comment from the forums
  • prtskg
    Why not use linux then?
    Reply
  • AlistairAB
    this is so silly, is it even worth thinking about? Microsoft is a security threat to Europe lol...
    Reply
  • I guess they had better get busy then..... maybe they can run chinese oses. lol
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Heh... most likely even one more Linux distribution among the millions we allready have. But she has a point. If you want to be sure, you have to do it by yourself. Nobody else is interested in keeping european secrect than european themselves. That is why USA has it own, China has its own and russian is developing its own operations systems.
    But Cyberpower security is much more than operation systems and browsers. It is the intra behind those frontend user interfaces.
    those Also should be made locally and everything this cost a money. A lot. And then there is that huge amounth of people who should learn to use that new operation system. Who Are in big trouble when MS makes minor change in operation system or Office programs...
    that alone is a reason why I Expect this idea to fail. Linux has tryed to replase Windows ower 29 year and has not managet to do that even if it is better in Many ways. This europe operation system aka Linux EU will face the same fate. Good idea. Normal people are not ready to give up Linux, Facebook and google search... They don`t care if google or Microsoft steal their cake resept, or family pictures.
    Reply
  • ubercake
    I encourage any competition, but when politicians make grand statements such as these, they're likely just asking for a payday (on the down-low) from the "few companies" already with operating systems in their countries.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    Bill sponsored by all the former employees of Nokia who lost their jobs with their canceled phone os. It was based on Linux.
    Reply
  • AlistairAB
    What's really funny is how nonsensical this is. If Europe goes to war with the U.S., they can just pirate the software or hire their programmers to make altered copies of it. This isn't like losing your manufacturing base. China isn't worried about security concerns, they want the money, that's why they're making their own OS. The Finnish person could have just said "we want a piece of that pie" or something and made sense.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    Maybe they should gather their own EU based Software Devs and make EUnix =D.
    Reply
  • knobbywalsh
    admin said:
    The EU needs its own operating system for independence and cybersecurity, Finnish minister Katri Kulmuni said.

    EU Needs Its Own Operating System, Finnish Minister Says : Read more
    Europe's problem is jealousy - the combined strength of 28 (now 27) member nations and one American company after another developed what they couldn't. And, they can't stand it, so they will take this ridiculous path. How will that help them compete better in an economy conducted in English, using software developed in the USA. Time for Europe to focus on innovation.
    Reply
  • JoBalz
    admin said:
    The EU needs its own operating system for independence and cybersecurity, Finnish minister Katri Kulmuni said.

    Why not use linux then?

    That was also my first thought. Linux. Easy enough to use one of the distros as the basis of a European system. It would be a lot faster to develop a product that starting from scratch. Or consider BSD.
    Reply