The newly elected European Parliament will include at least 33 members from 7 member states that have pledged their support to free software, according to advocacy groups April and the FSFE. The provisional results of their campaign show that of these, 17 come from France, 7 from Germany, 3 from the Netherlands, 2 from Italy, 2 from Spain, 1 from Belgium and 1 from Portugal.

This year, the campaign to get candidates to pledge their support for free software involved France's April, the Italian Assoli, Spain's Hispalinux, Latvia's LATA, Slovenia's SOIK and the pan-European FSF and FSFE.

In signing the pact, candidates promise to support free software and open standards in politics, law and administration.

Free software enthusiasts volunteering for these groups managed to get 162 of all EP candidates from 16 member states to sign the 'Free Software Pact', and contacted many more, says Jeanne Tadeusz, April's public affairs officer. "It is crucial that MEPs know and care about free software", the group explained when announcing the interim results. "The European Parliament is one of the most important actors today in protecting our freedoms, show by its battles on ACTA, Net neutrality and software patents."

In a statement, Karsten Gerloff, president for the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) adds: "We rely on these MEPS to make sure that Europeans can be in full control of the computers they use. FSFE will be happy to support them in this important effort."

More information:

April press annoucement (in French)

April press annoucement

FSFE press announcement

Computerworld news item