The Open Document Format Alliance has welcomed calls from Europe to stop IT vendors from "locking" users into document format standards.

The ODF Alliance was responding to a speech by Nellie Kroes before the OpenForum Europe group, in which the commissioner for competition stressed the benefits of using open and well-documented standards.

"As purchasers, we need to be smart when we buy technology. We need to be aware of the long term costs of lock-in: you are often locked in to subsequent generations of that technology. The EC must not rely on one vendor, it must not accept closed standards, and it must refuse to become locked into a particular technology – jeopardising maintenance of full control over the information in its possession," said Kroes.

Responding to this in a statement Mario Marcich, managing director at the ODF Alliance, said, "The end is near for the era of public information being locked in a closed format. The OpenDocument Format, with its status as the only internationally recognised open standard document format with a wide range of supporting applications, is a critical tool for governments to help end the era of lock-in. Commissioner Kroes' remarks validate the ODF Alliance mission and indicate the growing support for ODF and open standards that ensure interoperability and technological choice."