LERU calls for careful design of dual-use provisions in next EU research programme

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has called on EU institutions to ensure that any incorporation of dual-use research in the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10, 2028-2034) is carefully designed so as not to undermine its fundamental principles.

LERU said on 21/05/2026 that the removal of the civilian clause in the FP10 proposal of the European Commission raised issues, including the potential ineligibility or exclusion of associated and third countries from Horizon Europe, the jeopardising of longstanding research collaborations and a potential reduction in funding available for civilian-only research.

While the Framework Programme has historically been exclusively civilian in nature, opened up to dual-use applications via the European Innovation Council (EIC) in 2025, a development that has now become widespread in FP10 following the removal of the civilian clause.

The League said it had concerns on several aspects of the dual-use provisions in FP10, for example, the conceptual ambiguity around what would or would not constitute dual-use, the…