EU Commission's Sovereign Chat App Debuts with Scathing Reviews
The European Commission has rolled out Element Pro, an alternative to Microsoft Teams, as an internal backup. The collaboration software is designed by London-based company Element and is being trialed within the EC.
However, the reaction from EC staff has been overwhelmingly negative, with one staffer calling it 'absolute shit' on an internal forum.
The criticism stems from concerns about relying on American software in a time of tense US-EU relations. The EC accepted commitments to end an antitrust probe into Microsoft's Teams sales practices just last year and is embracing the concept of 'digital sovereignty'.
Element CEO Matthew Hodgson acknowledged that there may be some 'teething issues' with switching to Element Pro, but noted that it is used by other organizations such as the United Nations and NATO.