All French government publications should be made available in OpenDocument Format (ODF), according to a report commissioned
by the French prime minister.
In his report, "On Equal Terms," National Assembly Deputy Bernard Carayon calls for a law making it compulsory for French
government departments to use ODF when they create or distribute documents, and suggests that France ask its European partners
to do likewise when exchanging documents at a European level.
Carayon's report, submitted to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Sept. 14 and published late last week, is not just
about ODF.
De Villepin asked Carayon to investigate how European businesses could play a greater role in developing global industrial
standards, in order to level the economic playing field and reduce Europe's economic dependance on other regions. Carayon's
report carries no legal weight, but French policy makers should take account of such reports, which the prime minister can
commission on a wide range of matters.
In the report, Carayon also recommended the government fund a research center dedicated to open-source software security,
and set up a system to help national and local government agencies exchange information about best practice in the use of
open-source software.
He also suggested that the European Union should create an agency with the ambitious goal of ensuring its technological independence.
Separately, Carayon has also pushed for the French National Assembly to give deputies the choice of proprietary or open-source
software on the workstations provided for them, beginning with the next parliamentary session in 2007.
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