Europe’s particle physics community has agreed on a new long-term roadmap that places CERN’s proposed Future Circular Collider at the centre of the continent’s scientific ambitions.
The updated European Strategy for Particle Physics, adopted by the CERN Council after more than two years of consultation and review, outlines how Europe plans to maintain its leadership in high-energy physics beyond the lifetime of the Large Hadron Collider.
The strategy update follows input from hundreds of researchers, institutions and international partners. More than 260 written submissions were reviewed before recommendations were delivered to the CERN Council in late 2025.
The final framework prioritises continued operation and upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider while endorsing the electron-positron Future Circular Collider, known as FCC-ee, as CERN’s preferred next flagship project.
If approved later this decade, the FCC-ee would become one of the largest scientific infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Europe.
CERN management has now been tasked with developing funding discussions with member states, the European Union and international partners ahead of a potential decision by 2028.
Council President Costas Fountas commented: “The high-energy physics community and the CERN Council have been united for this critical update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, and the FCC-ee has emerged as the preferred flagship project to maintain CERN’s world-leading role in collider physics and technology in the decades to come.
“I wish the CERN Management the greatest success in implementing the Council resolution between now and the 2028 target decision date .”
European Strategy for Particle Physics sets direction for next era
The updated European Strategy for Particle Physics establishes a long-term scientific vision for Europe’s role in understanding the fundamental structure of matter and the Universe.
The roadmap is intended to guide investment, research priorities and international collaboration over the coming decades.
The strategy process formally began in March 2024 under the oversight of the European Strategy Group.
Scientists across Europe and beyond were invited to contribute proposals and technical studies aimed at identifying the next major breakthrough project for the field.
At the heart of the discussions was the question of how to build on the discovery of the Higgs boson, which CERN researchers confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012.
The Higgs discovery completed a major part of the Standard Model of particle physics, but it also opened new questions about dark matter, the origins of mass and unexplained forces in the Universe.
Future Circular Collider becomes preferred option
Under the new European Strategy for Particle Physics, CERN’s High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider programme remains the continent’s highest medium-term priority.
The upgraded collider is expected to continue operating into the 2040s and produce significantly more data for researchers studying rare particle interactions.
For the longer term, however, the strategy identifies the FCC-ee as the leading candidate for Europe’s next-generation accelerator programme.
The proposed machine would collide electrons and positrons inside a massive circular tunnel larger than the current LHC infrastructure.
Researchers believe the cleaner collision environment would allow unprecedented precision measurements of the Higgs boson and other particles linked to the Standard Model.
Scientists involved in the strategy process argued that the FCC-ee offers the strongest potential for uncovering physics beyond the Standard Model.
The project is also expected to generate major advances in superconducting technologies, computing, cryogenics and engineering.
CERN feasibility studies shaped the decision
The recommendation follows several years of technical and financial analysis carried out by CERN and international collaborators.
A large-scale feasibility study for the Future Circular Collider was published in March 2025 and later reviewed by the CERN Council.
That earlier work examined possible tunnel locations, environmental impacts, construction requirements and estimated costs. It also evaluated how the project could fit within Europe’s wider scientific infrastructure plans.
The new strategy builds directly on the 2020 European Strategy for Particle Physics, which had already identified a future “Higgs factory” as the preferred successor to the LHC, which is expected to end operations around 2041.
Funding and political approval remain major hurdles
Despite the scientific backing, the Future Circular Collider still faces major political and financial challenges before construction can begin.
The CERN Council has asked CERN management to open negotiations with member states, associate members, non-member countries and European Union institutions to explore a financially viable funding structure.
Annual progress reports will now be delivered over the next two years as governments assess the scientific, technical and economic implications of the project. Public consultations are also expected in CERN’s host states, France and Switzerland.
A final decision on whether to proceed with the FCC-ee is expected by 2028.
For now, the updated European Strategy for Particle Physics gives CERN and its international partners a clear mandate to move forward with planning for what could become the world’s next major frontier in fundamental science.