Denmark's Ministry of Digitalisation has stopped the trial it began in June 2025 to replace Microsoft Office with the Collabora suite, which is based on LibreOffice. According to Computerworld Denmark, the 38-person trial ran into persistent problems with Office OOXML files, some of which opened as blank pages. The programme had already been paused for elections and has now been cancelled without a public announcement. It is not clear whether the country will try a different option.

What it means: Digital sovereignty is one of the most discussed topics in Europe, with governments and companies wanting less dependence on US suppliers. The Danish case shows that a switch depends less on what the alternative software can do and more on the thousands of existing files, templates and macros built on closed formats. For a Greek business or public body thinking of cutting licence costs, the right first step is an inventory: which documents and spreadsheets are used daily, how many contain macros, and which are exchanged with clients, accountants or authorities. A pilot with a small team, real files and clear success criteria avoids surprises. Technical support and training also matter, because users quickly abandon a tool that breaks their formatting. Denmark's setback does not mean open-source office software cannot work, but that a migration needs a plan, time and a file-format policy, for example moving new documents to ODF step by step. For software vendors there is also an opportunity, since conversion and compatibility tools are in real demand. Public buyers in particular should write portability and open formats into their tenders so that the next migration is less painful than this one.

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