Government in transition – how governments change the way they work and prepare the civil service for the future

The rule of law, respect for human rights and democracy are foundational values of the EU laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. These values provide the Union with principled orientations to meet the inevitable geopolitical economic, social and demographic changes that could not be foreseen at the time the Treaties were drafted. This includes how the digital transformation would affect how the debate and political processes would be shaped.

Democracy is cultural practice as much as it is a political system. It is a key strength of European societies, helping ensure respect for equality, the rule of law, fundamental rights and liberty. Actors with anti-democratic tendencies attack democracies and their institutions because democracy is a safeguard against them[[The 2025 report of the V-Dem Institute (“25 years of Autocratization-Democracy Trumped?”) confirms the appalling signs, indicators and tendencies captured over previous years of measurement: “The trend of the ‘third wave of autocratization’ is deepening and spreading. That includes weakening of democracy in some established liberal democracies, breakdown of democracy in countries that were democratic for most of the 21st century, as well as deepening of autocracy in already autocratic states […] The global democratic decline deepens, regardless of how we slice the data and whichever measure we use” (pp. 9 and 10)]]. Even traditionally well-functioning democracies face many challenges, which means that they also continuously need to adapt as conditions change. Social sciences and humanities (SSH) research plays a crucial role in understanding current challenges and threats and mapping future pathways for innovative solutions. Building on historical, cultural, social, legal and philosophical perspectives, research will foster the further development of democracy with a view to enhancing citizen participation and inclusive policymaking, promoting equality and inclusiveness, addressing the impact of AI and the digital transformation of democracy. It will also reinforce democratic resilience and civic preparedness, and preserve the role of free, independent and plural media as key tenets of democracy, among other objectives.

Expected impact:

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impact of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan:

• Reinvigorating democratic governance by improving the independence, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of institutions and policies based on rule of law, and through the expansion of active and inclusive citizens’ participation and engagement empowered by the safeguarding of fundamental rights.

The aim of the research investment supporting this impact is to develop a robust evidence base that can inform the establishment of effective, relevant and sensible policies, which bolster the resilience of democratic systems and protect them from threats. At the same time, it seeks to foster critical thinking while also reinforcing citizens’ trust in democracy, its institutions, and the sense of political participation in its widest possible sense.

The destination seeks synergies with other relevant EU programmes, in particular for the uptake of research results and innovative solutions developed under Horizon Europe. Interaction – among others – with the following programmes is encouraged: Digital Europe (DIGITAL), Technical Support Instrument, CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values), Erasmus+, ESF+ and Global Europe: Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument.

Applicants are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the services offered by the current and future EU-funded European Research Infrastructures, particularly those in the social sciences and humanities domain^[1]. Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces.

As the destination aims directly at citizen engagement and at producing lasting change, it is of particular importance that the research and innovation actions promote the highest standards of transparency and openness. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this destination is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable). When applicable, it is encouraged to open up the process, criteria, methodologies and data to civil society in the course of the research.

To maximise the impacts of R&I under this Destination in line with EU priorities, international cooperation is encouraged whenever relevant in the proposed topics.

[1] For a full list see https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/ri-portfolio/table. In the social sciences domain, see for example: CESSDA - Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (https://www.cessda.eu/), ESS – European Social Survey (https://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/), SHARE - Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (https://www.share-eric.eu/) or the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (https://ehri-project.eu/)

Expected Outcome:

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes.

• Country government innovation info sheets, trends, inspiring good practices, the most innovative solutions recently developed or work in progress for next-generation governance and future-informed public decision making in EU Member States and Associated Countries (MS/AC).
• Policy recommendations for both EU level and MS/AC level actions on adopting new governance paradigms, and strategies for enhanced (technical and financial) support for internal government innovation efforts.
• Publication of lessons learned to enlighten government officials and the public about the often-invisible internal innovation strategies and impactful solutions in national governments.
• A comprehensive MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) for government officials with relevant examples and cases.
• Fostering of closer ties and collaboration among MS/AC (and any other relevant actors) to leverage national capabilities in innovative governance and maintain peer learning through e.g. relevant networks and knowledge exchange platforms.

Scope:

In an era characterized by numerous concurrent crises, accelerated technological development, and waning public trust in government, the pivotal objective of this topic is to furnish a precise depiction of the current condition of public service in MS/AC, highlight the substantial challenges governments are endeavouring to manage at the same time, the general state of the civil service and the evolution of related public employment management, including HR policy, the organizational framework conditions conducive to innovation and agile operations, and organizational development efforts. Enhancing government capacities to define strategies and develop complex public policies in a swiftly evolving context is imperative. Traditional methods are increasingly ineffective, necessitating a reinvention of government operations.

This investigation intends to shed light on the disruptions currently reshaping the work of governments, the complex tasks they are grappling with, their internal innovation efforts and change processes little known by the public, and to showcase the immense investment and good practices governments developed and are developing to deal with their core business in radically new ways. Governments take various paths that best suit their ambition, vision, leveraging power and the characteristics of their national context.

Proposals are expected to cover all three focus areas detailed below:

1. New governance paradigm: Focus on new governance approaches and reforms in response to declining public trust, from preparation for crisis to anticipatory governance, agile leadership, using an innovation portfolio approach to strategic planning, working with the innovation ecosystem in strategic decision-making, the impacts of digital technology (especially the role of AI, automation, the redefinition of tasks, related opportunities and threats,), open government approaches, democratic participation and central communication strategies, information flows (including social media), and related civil service development governments undertake to stand the ground today and to prepare for tomorrow.
2. Innovative approaches to public service and policy development: Solving complex issues needs multidisciplinary (including from SSH disciplines) and innovative approaches to high-quality public service and effective administrative delivery, policy- and decision making, such as citizen participation, stakeholder engagement, systems thinking, role of technology/AI and interconnected data systems and experimentation (i.e. evidence-informed policymaking).
3. New public employment management and civil service empowerment: Enabling governments to explore possibilities and transforming the civil service through innovation and public intrapreneurship, HR policy, including a public administration health-check, and capacity building (e.g. upskilling, reskilling, future literacy), the organizational framework conditions (also sensitive to the needs of the next generation of civil servants) conducive to innovation and building resilience, and cooperation with other EU governments (data exchange, mutual support) while building a modern, future-ready civil service.

While national governments in the EU and Associated Countries are the primary focus for this investigation, regional and local governments as well as documented, highly inspirational good practice cases from the global context are of interest to learn from.

This should give voice to the civil service, examining how civil service officials (in various roles, functions and level of decision making, and in their diversity, including gender, age, socio-economic background, experience level, and other relevant personal characteristics) see the changing role of the state, their own role, organizational framework conditions (i.e. people, knowledge, ways of working, and rules and processes), how they cope under the current pressures, and what their visions, hopes and needs are for the future.

The research should build on existing work (data, reports, case studies, networks) by EU institutions, international organizations (World Economic Forum, OECD, United Nations, Chandler Institute of Governance, etc.), schools of governance, national governments and innovation agencies in EU Member States and Associated Countries, complemented by primary data to be collected through large-scale surveying, in-depth interviews, strategic reflection workshops covering key issues in the public governance domain (e.g. the core tasks of government, internal innovation strategies, regaining citizens’ trust, etc.), and key stakeholder engagement. The proposals should elaborate on the planned collection and analysis of the primary data (beyond desk research), and on the proposed engagement with senior officials in national government, at European level and international organizations (as relevant), demonstrating deep reach into the national civil services as key factors for the successful delivery of the work.

Proposals are encouraged to take stock of the uptake of provisions of Commission Communication COM(2023) 667^[1], and seek complementarity with relevant EU-funded projects, the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, and the relevant work of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52023DC0667