Schleswig-Holstein’s “Deutschland-Stack” vision for a digitally independent Germany

The northern-most German federal state Schleswig-Holstein has published an «Impulspapier«, setting guiding principles for the «Deutschland-Stack»: the sovereign, interoperable, and Europe-compatible digital infrastructure mentioned in the federal coalition agreement.

The joint memorandum is the result of a July 2025 expert exchange hosted by the state’s Minister for Digitalisation, bringing together government, industry, and open source community representatives. With this concrete set of principles, Schleswig-Holstein and its collaborators move the discussion from political ideas to a practical conversation.

The publication emphasizes openness, interoperability, and European cooperation. This is exactly the foundation needed for a digital infrastructure that serves the public good, strengthens the domestic IT industry, and reinforces Europe’s technological sovereignty.

Background: Eurostack and Deutschland-Stack

The idea of a sovereign “stack” first gained traction at the European level. Eurostack was introduced in September 2024 during a European Parliament conference on digital independence. Its most ambitious vision is a fully sovereign technology stack for Europe, covering everything from rare earth minerals, chip manufacturing, and networking infrastructure to cloud platforms, software, and AI services. The goal: reduce dependence on non-European providers and maintain long-term control over strategic technology.

Against that backdrop, Deutschland-Stack emerged in the 2025 coalition agreement as Germany’s national-level counterpart, described as an interoperable, Europe-compatible architecture for sovereign digital infrastructure, intended for federal, state, and municipal use. The agreement gave no technical detail, leaving room for interpretation. Since then, the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization has taken ownership, aiming for a full rollout by 2028.

Schleswig-Holstein’s Impulspapier tries to give this idea practical shape. It frames the Deutschland-Stack as an ecosystem of open innovation, anchored in shared principles, and integrated with existing national and European initiatives such as GovStack, the Sovereign Cloud Stack, Deutsche Verwaltungscloud, and proven international components like Estonia’s X-Road. The goal is to reuse and extend what works, rather than reinventing it, to speed deployment and strengthen European interoperability.

Four key elements of the Deutschland-Stack proposal — and why they matter

1. Open standards, open source, transparent development

Open standards and open source are set as hard requirements for genuine independence. Transparency through public code repositories like openCode ensures high quality, security, and efficiency. Open licensing fosters cooperation across public and private sectors and avoids vendor lock-in. Some might resist — requiring open standards and open code would certainly inconvenience the current market leaders — but transparency is clearly in the public interest, levels the playing field, and creates opportunity for the German IT sector.

2. Centrally developed core services, decentralised innovation elsewhere

The proposal follows a “Zentral-für-Alle” (centralized, common core) approach for infrastructure and base services, ensuring critical components are developed and operated centrally, while leaving plenty of room for others to innovate and build additional services in a decentralised way. This targets investment at the low-level libraries and services that often lack sustainable funding but are vital to many higher-level solutions. It provides strong foundations for a diverse IT ecosystem, encouraging competitive, specialised development.

3. Strong European connection

The vision is firmly aligned with European goals, working together across borders multiplies resources and influence. Given that European governments already spend massive amounts on US-based tech, redirecting even a fraction of those budgets to open, European alternatives could rapidly build a competitive, sovereign infrastructure.

4. Governance done right

Governance should be contributor-driven yet clearly steered (“kooperativ, aber auch gelenkt”), ensuring principles are maintained without excessive bureaucracy. All development should take place transparently on openCode, with interfaces documented according to the OpenAPI specification to enable easy integration and foster decentralised innovation.

Deutschland-Stack: Guidelines for a stronger position for German tech

Until now, the Deutschland-Stack has been more of a political aspiration than a concrete plan. Schleswig-Holstein’s Impulspapier offers a credible, collaborative vision that can guide national implementation. By rooting the stack in open standards, transparent development on openCode, and a balanced model of centralised infrastructure with decentralised innovation, it addresses both sovereignty and practical deployment. Anchoring it firmly in the European context and involving the domestic digital economy from the start gives it the best chance to deliver modern, interoperable services — and to strengthen Germany’s place in the global technology landscape.