What’s coming up in research policy in the second half of 2025?

So far, 2025 has seen a flurry of policy initiatives as the new European Commission got down to work. August offers a moment to pause and reflect ahead of a busy autumn. Here, we list some of the key developments to look out for in the second half of the year.

Danish presidency and FP10: The big news of 2025 so far has been the Commission’s proposal for the post-2027 EU budget and the next Framework Programme, FP10. The Danish presidency has said it hopes to make progress with Council negotiations on FP10 before the end of the year. Research ministers are currently scheduled to meet on September 30 and December 9.

The European Parliament’s research committee will also begin examining the proposal once the political groups have designated their rapporteurs.

Other priorities of the Danish presidency include discussions on the EU life sciences strategy, the start-up and scale-up strategy and the EU Space Act. 

AI strategies: Three important Commission strategies are slated for the third quarter of the year: AI in science, “apply AI” and the data union.

The AI in science strategy will pave the way for the Resource for AI Science in Europe (Raise), also referred to as the European AI Research Council, intended to pool resources for scientists developing and applying AI. Raise is due to be launched at an inaugural event hosted by the Danish presidency of the Council on November 3-4.

The goal of the apply AI strategy will be to boost new industrial uses of AI. Meanwhile, the data union strategy aims to streamline data rules so that data can be shared more easily, and it could also include measures to increase the availability of high-quality data and investment in data infrastructures.

28th regime debate: The start-up community is eagerly awaiting the 28th regime, a single set of rules to help companies scale-up quickly across EU borders, covering areas such as insolvency, labour and tax law. According to the Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, a proposal for the 28th regime should be presented in late 2025 or early 2026.

However, a draft report from the European Parliament presented earlier this month has start-up associations worried. The report, authored by René Repasi of the Socialists and Democrats group, recommends introducing a directive that would give member states more flexibility over implementation, rather than a regulation that would have to be applied in its entirety across the EU. The associations fear a directive would not be sufficient to address the regulatory fragmentation that prevents companies from scaling up across the bloc. Expect debates to intensify in the second half of the year, once the Commission’s call for evidence closes on September 30.

Space budget: The coming months will be critical for the European Space Agency (ESA), as its member states are set to decide on its next three-year budget at the ministerial council in Bremen on November 26-27.

ESA director general Josef Aschbacher has been banging the drum for more ambitious spending in recent years. He told MEPs in May that the agency was preparing a budget proposal of likely more than €20 billion. Recent reports suggest the final proposal will be for €23 billion, a 36% increase on the current three-year budget of €16.9bn, but ESA member states will have the final say.

The size of the budget will be a decisive factor in ESA’s ability to support the development of a private space sector, incorporate new priorities such as defence, and ultimately compete with other space powers. There is also the question of proposed cuts to NASA, which could impact international projects involving ESA.

Election season: A series of votes across Europe will have an impact on research policy at national level. Norway will hold parliamentary elections on September 8, before Czechia and the Netherlands head to the polls in October.