The European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH) welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for the new FP10 framework programme (2028–2034) to give greater attention to research on society within pillar 2 (‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’). However, as EASSH states in its position paper of September 2025, this commitment must now be firmly anchored by the European Parliament and the Member States.
EASSH calls for a well-funded ‘Society’ window with a budget of at least €7.6 billion for research into societal issues – such as democracy, education and skills, Europe 2040, culture & knowledge, and productive and inclusive societies. It also calls for the integration of social sciences and humanities (SSH) in all FP10 themes to be guaranteed, and for the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) to be structurally strengthened without political interference.
Key message
The key message is that Europe invests in technology, defence and climate, but not enough in understanding people, behaviour and values – the driving force behind social innovation. Only by investing in knowledge about society can Europe strengthen democratic resilience, social cohesion and inclusive innovation.
For the Netherlands, this means that ministries and knowledge institutions must actively advocate for a strong ‘Society’ cluster in FP10. This fits in seamlessly with the Dutch ambition to better connect science with societal impact and to fully incorporate SSH-expertise into European programmes.