Free Software Foundation Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is an "eingetragener Verein" (registered voluntary association) under German law founded in 2001 to support all aspects of the free software movement in Europe, with registered chapters in several European countries. It is the European sister organization of the US-based Free Software Foundation (FSF). FSF and FSFE are financially and legally separate entities. FSFE believes that access to and control of software determines who may participate in a digital society, and therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software, as described in The Free Software Definition, are  necessary for equal participation in the Information Age. Goals. The focus of FSFE's work is political, legal, and social with the aim of promoting free software and the ethical, philosophical, social, political and commercial values that it implements. In particular, it Example projects. Each month, FSFE publishes a newsletter, in multiple languages (including English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish), of their activities that can be mentioned in public. Structure. From FSFE's published "Self-Conception": <nowiki>"The people of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), see ourselves as Europeans Internally, the FSFE has a consensus-oriented, team structure in  which participation is determined by each person's willingness to participate and do work. A democratic and representative-democratic model functions as a fallback for when the consensus-based approach either reaps no results or a quick decision is needed. Legal structure. The FSFE has a modular legal structure with a central "Hub" organisation and the possibility of local legal bodies, called "chapters". The Hub is a charitable association ("e.V.") which is registered in Germany. As well as being in regular contact with the other FSFs — FSF, Free Software Foundation India (FSFI), Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA) — FSFE  has a structure of organisations which are official associates. These are mostly national-level free software groups. Awards. In 2010, FSFE received the Theodor Heuss Medal in recognition of its work for freedom in the information society. The medal is awarded once a year in Stuttgart by a non-partisan foundation named after West Germany's first president.