On May 25th, 162 candidates from 16 countries had signed the Free Software Pact, committing to protecting and promoting Free Software if they were elected to the European Parliament.
According to provisional results, at least 33 newly elected Members of the European Parliament from 7 countries have signed the Free Software Pact:
- 17 from France : Eric Andrieu, Pervenche Berès, José Bosé, Marielle de Sarnez, Karima Delli, Jean-Paul Denanot, Pascal Durand, Sylvie Guillaume, Yannick Jadot, Eva Joly, Patrick Le Hyaric, Emmanuel Maurel, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Christine Revault, Michèle Rivasi, Isabelle Thomas, Marie-Christine Vergiat
- 7 from Germany :Jan Philip Albrecht, Fabio de Masi, Ska Keller, Constanze Krehl, Martina Michels, Julia Reda, Gabi Zimmer
- 3 from the Netherlands : Bas Eikhout, Kati Piri and Judith Sargentini
- 2 from Italy : Sergio Cofferati and Patrizia Toia
- 2 from Spain : Pablo Echenique Robba and Florent Marcellesi
- 1 from Portugal : Marisa Matias
- 1 from Belgium : Philippe Lamberts
"April would like to thanks all of them for their commitment to Free Software", said Jeanne Tadeusz, Public Affairs officer at April."The European Parliament is one of the most important actors today in protecting our freedoms, as the recent battles on ACTA, Net neutrality, but also software patents in the past have shown. It is hence crucial that MEPs know and care about Free Software."
Volunteers were also active in translating the Pact, which is available in 16 languages, and the Free Software Pact website in 5. Many thanks to all of you who contributed to the campaign!
"Newly elected members of the European Parliament can still sign the Free Software Pact", adds Frédéric Couchet, executive director of April. "Volunteers are invited to contact their newly elected MEPs to inform them about Free Software".
About the Free Software Pact initiative
Since 2007, French association April has sensitized candidates to political elections about Free Software related issues through the Candidats.fr initiative. The Candidats.fr initiative was part of all presidential, legislative and local elections since 2007, asking them to sign the "Pacte du Logiciel Libre" (Free Software Pact).
In 2009, April, Associazione per il software libero, Hispalinux and volunteers joined their forces for the first Free Software Pact campaign for the European elections. In 2009, 231 candidates signed the Pact and 44 signatories were elected.
For the 2014 edition, the Free Software Pact is an initiative by April, with the support of Assoli, EDRI, Free Software Foundation, Free Software Foundation Europe, Hispalinux, LAKA and SOIT. The Free Software Pact is available in 16 European languages, and the initiative website in 5 languages.
April was also a partner of the WePromise.eu initiative.
About April
A pioneer of Free Software in France since 1996, April is a major player in the democratisation of Free Software and open standards, and in their spread to the general public, professionals and institutions of the French-speaking world. In the digital era that is ours, it also aims to inform the public on the dangers of an exclusive appropriation of information and knowledge by private interests.
The organisation is a non-profit and it has over 3,600 members, who use or produce Free Software.
For more information, you may visit http://www.april.org/, contact us by phone at +33 1 78 76 92 80, or use our contact form.
Press contacts:
Jeanne Tadeusz, Public Affairs Officer, jtadeusz@april.org +33 1 78 76 92 82
Frédéric Couchet, Executive Director, fcouchet@april.org +33 6 60 68 89 31