The CERN Council has updated the European Strategy for Particle Physics, marking an important milestone for the future of high-energy physics in Europe and beyond. The update confirms the full exploitation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), through the completion and operation of its High-Luminosity upgrade, as the highest medium-term priority for European particle physics. Looking further ahead, the electron–positron Future Circular Collider, FCC-ee, has been identified as the preferred option for CERN’s next flagship project.

The FCC-ee would offer a broad and ambitious programme in fundamental physics, with outstanding discovery potential. Through ultra-precise measurements of the Higgs boson and other elementary particles, it would address some of the central open questions in particle physics, from the foundations of the Standard Model to possible signs of new physics beyond it.

“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,” said Costas Fountas, Council President. “I wish the CERN Management the greatest success in implementing the Council resolution between now and the 2028 target decision date.”

The Strategy update builds on the previous European Strategy update in 2020, which identified an electron–positron Higgs factory as the highest-priority next collider after the LHC. Following that recommendation, CERN and its international partners carried out a comprehensive Feasibility Study for a possible Future Circular Collider. Published in 2025, the study provided key scientific, technical, environmental and financial input to the Strategy process and demonstrated the maturity of the FCC-ee project concept.

“The European Strategy reiterates the critical importance of the High-Luminosity LHC, which will use advanced accelerator and detector technologies to fully exploit the scientific potential of this incredible machine in the coming years,” said Mark Thomson, CERN Director-General. “Beyond HiLumi LHC, the FCC-ee would be a visionary global research infrastructure for the next decades that will deepen our knowledge of the fundamental building blocks of the Universe through ultra-precise measurements of the Higgs boson and other elementary particles. CERN’s task now is to steer this unprecedented project towards a decision by the CERN Council.”

Over the past decade, the FCC study has brought together a large international community of scientists, engineers, technical experts, institutes and industrial partners. Their work has covered the physics case, accelerator design, detector concepts, civil engineering, technical infrastructure, territorial implementation, environmental considerations and socio-economic impact. This collective effort has been essential in bringing the project to its current level of maturity.

“The Strategy process has seen a very strong engagement of the particle physics community and has led to a very clear conclusion: the FCC-ee, if approved, would deliver the world’s broadest high-precision particle physics programme, its technical feasibility has been demonstrated by the comprehensive FCC Feasibility Study and its scope and cost are well defined,” said Karl Jakobs, Strategy Secretary. “It would also pave the way for a possible future hadron collider reusing the tunnel and much of the infrastructure, providing direct discovery reach well beyond the 10 TeV parton energy scale.”

In addition to its scientific reach, FCC-ee would act as a powerful driver of innovation. The project would require advances in accelerator technologies, superconducting radiofrequency systems, magnets, cryogenics, vacuum systems, detector technologies, computing, energy efficiency and large-scale infrastructure design. It would also train thousands of early-career scientists, engineers and technicians, strengthening the skills base needed for future scientific and technological challenges.

The Strategy update also highlights the global dimension of the project. FCC-ee would be conceived as an international research infrastructure, building on CERN’s long tradition of bringing nations together around fundamental science. Its scientific goals, technological challenges and scale offer a unique opportunity for global collaboration in the decades to come.

The next phase will focus on supporting the information and decision-making processes needed for a possible future approval of FCC-ee. The CERN Council has invited CERN Management to initiate discussions with the relevant authorities and entities in the Member and Associate Member States, as well as non-Member States and the European Union, with a view to developing a financially feasible funding plan for the possible FCC-ee project.

Over the next two years, CERN Management will provide annual reports on the implementation of the Strategy update and the necessary information to support national decision-making processes. This will allow the CERN Council to be in a position, by 2028, to take a decision on FCC-ee, taking into account the scientific, technical and financial feasibility of the project, as well as the results of the public consultation exercises in CERN’s Host States, France and Switzerland.

The FCC collaboration warmly acknowledges the many contributions from institutes, laboratories, universities, funding agencies, industrial partners and individual experts around the world. Their expertise, commitment and collaborative spirit have been central to the progress of the study and will remain essential as the project enters this next phase.

The update of the European Strategy marks an important step towards shaping the future of particle physics after the High-Luminosity LHC. With FCC-ee identified as the preferred option for CERN’s next flagship project, the international community now moves into a crucial phase of preparation, consultation and decision-making.