FP10 is the working name for the European Commission’s proposed tenth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, presented on 16 July 2025 as the successor to Horizon Europe for 2028-2034. The Commission proposed a €175 billion budget, roughly double the current programme, nested inside a wider €451 billion European Competitiveness Fund, with legal texts still under negotiation.
Horizon Europe FP10 is the name the European Commission has chosen to keep for the tenth Framework Programme, though “FP10” persists as shorthand in policy circles ahead of formal adoption. Understanding its structure now, while Parliament and Council are still negotiating the text, matters for anyone planning EU grant strategy or open-access compliance.
- What is FP10 and how does it differ from Horizon Europe?
- How much money is proposed, and how does the Competitiveness Fund fit in?
- What are FP10’s four pillars?
- What happens next: timeline and negotiating positions
- What does FP10 mean for open science mandate continuity?
- Frequently asked questions
- What research administrators should track now
What is FP10 and how does it differ from Horizon Europe?
FP10 is the European Union’s tenth multiannual Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and the direct successor to Horizon Europe (2021-2027). The Commission presented its legislative proposal on 16 July 2025 as part of the wider Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package for 2028-2034, according to its own research and innovation news portal.
Unlike previous transitions between Framework Programmes, FP10 retains the “Horizon Europe” brand rather than adopting a new name. The structural change is not cosmetic: for the first time, the Framework Programme sits formally alongside a newly proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), with the two vehicles described by the Commission as “tightly connected.”
| Feature | Horizon Europe (2021-2027) | FP10 proposal (2028-2034) |
|---|---|---|
| Programme name | Horizon Europe | Horizon Europe (retained) |
| Proposed budget | €93.5 billion | €175 billion |
| Structural position | Standalone Framework Programme | Standalone programme nested inside a €451bn European Competitiveness Fund |
| Pillars | Three pillars plus Widening | Four pillars: excellent science; competitiveness and society; innovation; European Research Area |
| Legal status (July 2026) | In force | Under negotiation by Parliament and Council |
How much money is proposed, and how does the Competitiveness Fund fit in?
The Commission’s proposal doubles the Framework Programme budget to €175 billion, up from €93.5 billion under the current Horizon Europe programme, according to the European Research Area platform and Science|Business. That figure is not the whole story: FP10 sits inside a larger €451 billion European Competitiveness Fund.
The Commission has confirmed the ECF itself will not finance research activities directly. Collaborative research for competitiveness — the part of Horizon Europe closest to industrial priorities — will instead be governed jointly by the Commission’s research and industrial-policy directorates, funding the same priority areas as the ECF. That joint governance model is new; today’s research directorate manages Horizon Europe alone.
Budget negotiations are unsettled. The European Parliament’s budgets committee is reviewing a draft report from rapporteurs Siegfried Mureşan (EPP) and Carla Tavares (S&D) arguing the proposed €175 billion is worth only around €155 billion once adjusted for inflation, and calling for a real-terms uplift to €173 billion. Treat €175 billion as a ceiling under active negotiation, not a confirmed figure.
What are FP10’s four pillars?
The FP10 proposal restructures Horizon Europe around four pillars: excellent science, competitiveness and society, innovation, and the European Research Area, according to Science|Business analysis of the Commission text — a shift from today’s three-pillar-plus-Widening structure.
- Excellent science — continues to house the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, both in line for budget increases under the proposal.
- Competitiveness and society — collaborative research and innovation aligned with the Competitiveness Fund’s industrial priorities.
- Innovation — houses the European Innovation Council (EIC), which Science|Business analysis identifies as the largest proportional winner if the proposal is adopted unchanged.
- European Research Area — widening participation, research infrastructure, and system-strengthening measures for countries with less advanced research systems.
One detail worth flagging early: the EIC is piloting a staged funding instrument called “advanced innovation challenges” in 2026, modelled on the US Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), ahead of a wider ARPA-style rollout planned from 2028 under FP10.
What happens next: timeline and negotiating positions
FP10 is a legislative proposal, not adopted law. On 5 November 2025, German MEP Christian Ehler (EPP) was confirmed as the European Parliament’s lead rapporteur for Horizon Europe, with René Repasi (S&D) as rapporteur for the separate “specific programme” implementing legislation. Ehler has publicly warned that top-down industrial policy “should not dictate” the research agenda.
In the Council, talks are further advanced on instruments supporting fundamental research than on the links between Horizon Europe and the Competitiveness Fund, or on how much say member states retain over strategic priority-setting. Several Widening-eligible states want budget diplomats kept out of a role historically held by research ministries.
The UK government has published its own negotiating position via GOV.UK, describing FP10 as the successor programme tasked with “harnessing excellence-based research and innovation,” reflecting the UK’s continued association to Horizon Europe. None of this is final: co-decision on the MFF and FP10 legal texts is expected to run through 2026 and into 2027, ahead of a planned January 2028 start.
What does FP10 mean for open science mandate continuity?
This is the question competitor coverage of FP10 has largely skipped, and it is the one research administration teams and OA officers should start tracking now. Horizon Europe’s current Model Grant Agreement mandates immediate open access to peer-reviewed publications and FAIR-aligned data management, with only narrow, justified opt-outs. Nothing in the July 2025 proposal text explicitly reconfirms that these obligations transfer unchanged into FP10’s legal instruments — the specific programme text where such provisions would sit is still being drafted.
Two structural features make this worth watching. First, Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva confirmed the future Horizon Europe will be “dual-use by default” — meaning all parts of the programme could support projects with both civilian and defence applications. Dual-use classification is a recognised basis for restricting publication and data-sharing under EU export-control rules, so a default dual-use posture could expand the grounds on which grantees claim exemptions from open-access obligations that currently apply almost universally.
Second, joint governance of the Competitiveness Fund-linked research strand by the Commission’s research and industrial-policy directorates introduces a second rule-setting authority into a space open-science mandates have, until now, sat under a single directorate. Neither the July 2025 announcement nor subsequent Council progress reports have clarified whether the current open-access mandate carries forward unchanged, is tightened, or becomes conditional on a project’s dual-use classification. Research administration teams should treat the FP10 specific programme text, once published in draft, as a priority document to check line by line rather than assume continuity.
Frequently asked questions
What is EU FP10?
FP10 is the common shorthand for the European Union’s tenth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, the successor to Horizon Europe covering 2028-2034. In July 2025, the European Commission confirmed the programme will keep the “Horizon Europe” name rather than adopt a new title, despite the FP10 label persisting in policy discussion.
Is the UK eligible for Horizon Europe funding?
Yes. The UK is associated to the current Horizon Europe programme and has published a formal negotiating position on FP10 via GOV.UK, describing the successor programme as central to “excellence-based research and innovation.” UK eligibility for FP10 specifically will depend on a future association agreement, not yet concluded.
What is the Horizon Europe Programme 2028-2034?
It is the proposed successor to the current Horizon Europe programme, presented by the European Commission on 16 July 2025 with a proposed €175 billion budget. It retains the Horizon Europe name, restructures around four pillars, and sits inside the new €451 billion European Competitiveness Fund.
What research administrators should track now
FP10 will not be finalised soon: Parliament and Council negotiations on the MFF and the specific programme are expected to run through 2026 and into 2027, ahead of a planned January 2028 start. But the direction of travel is clear enough to act on — a larger headline budget inside a competitiveness-oriented fund, joint directorate governance, a dual-use-by-default posture, and no confirmed statement yet on open-access mandate continuity.
Institutions and funders should follow the specific programme text as it emerges from trilogue, checking its open-access, data-management, and dual-use provisions against the current Model Grant Agreement rather than assuming no change. Engaging now, while the text is open, beats reacting after adoption.