Horizon Europe goes global: who’s in, who’s out, and why?

 Horizon Europe claims to be the world’s most open R&D programme – and, in some respect it is. Researchers from most countries can, in theory, “participate” in a Horizon research project as a partner – sharing the workload and the results.

But here’s the catch: securing EU funding isn’t automatic. Researchers from EU member states, or from countries like Canada and South Korea that have formally joined the programme, can get EU funding. Their countries are “associated” to Horizon Europe. But others, whether from the US or India, usually need to source their own funding, typically from their national governments. 

Sound complicated? Welcome to Brussels. But don’t worry – here’s our quick rundown of who’s in, and who’s out, of Horizon Europe.

The newcomers 

Canada: Canada was among the first countries far from Europe that were courted by the EU for Horizon association, and after slow negotiations, a breakthrough in November 2023 brought Ottawa onboard. In July 2024 the deal was officially sealed, allowing Canadian researchers equal access to the programme – albeit only for the Pillar II research consortia that take a bit more than half Horizon Europe’s annual budget. Equal access to the European Research Council, seen as one of the EU’s crown jewels, remains closely guarded by Brussels for now. Regardless, there’s a lot of money in Pillar II. So, many Canadian universities are desperately scrambling to figure out how this strange EU programme works. 

South Korea: Worried that its research is too inward looking, South Korea is investing to open it up to the outside world, in order to maintain its position as a technology leader in areas like semiconductors. As part of this push, it signed a deal to associate to Horizon Europe in March 2024. However, there are a number of hurdles, like cultural differences and a lack of English among senior Korean researchers, that could prevent EU-Korean teams of scientists from forming and winning grants. Like Canada, the country only has equal access to Pillar II of the programme. 

New Zealand: The first of the countries from outside the European region to associate, New Zealand is seeing its researchers winning grants in the programme, and Kiwi officials seem happy with how membership has gone so far. With such a vast time – and physical - distance between Wellington and Brussels, it’s unclear how deep the collaboration will get; even in the age of online meetings, geography still matters. But this is one of the reasons why New Zealand wanted to join in the first place: to mitigate its isolation from the big research hubs of East Asia, North America and Europe. 

The difficult neighbours

Switzerland: Here, there’s nothing but drama. Swiss voters periodically back anti-immigrant, anti-EU referenda (much to the polite consternation of the staid Swiss political elite.) One such referendum led to the Swiss being barred from most of Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe’s predecessor, for a few years. Though that fight was eventually patched up, a new one opened. In May 2021, the Swiss government announced it was pulling out of broad cooperation agreement negotiations. Hitting back, the EU has excluded Swiss researchers from some Horizon Europe programmes.

But Bern and Brussels are now negotiating a renewal of trade relations, including Switzerland’s association to Horizon Europe. Officials had been optimistic a deal could emerge quickly so Swiss researchers could have access to Horizon Europe funding as early as 2025. For now, Swiss researchers are excluded from European Research Council calls and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions postdoctoral fellowships. They can, however, participate in around two thirds of Horizon Europe projects – most notably collaborative calls – but without EU cash. Instead, for Horizon grants that they win, they are actually paid by the Swiss government. 

UK: Since Brexit, British scientists hoping for UK association have had to deal with endless, agonising false dawns, with association only coming into effect in 2024. The task now is to repair the damage done by the UK’s absence. In the hiatus, the once-mighty grant machines inside the UK’s top-ranked universities got rusty. An interim government guarantee scheme helped them join Horizon programmes with UK Treasury funding, but the uncertainty has weakened the UK’s performance in the programme. And there are some annoying details that remain – such as an EU ban on UK partners joining the most sensitive quantum or AI projects.

The maybes

Japan: Years of economic problems have weakened the Japanese science world, and its biggest tech companies have been surpassed by rivals in South Korea, China, and Taiwan. But it remains one of the top research powers in the world, and a good candidate for deeper collaboration with the EU. Though the country’s research establishment has long been inward-looking, lately that position has been changing. Japan is speaking to the EU about joining Horizon Europe, but the going is very slow; there are questions, for example, over how Japan would cap its contributions to the EU if its researchers got too successful.

Singapore: Association talks with the city state are well advanced, and Singaporean researchers could be the next group to get equal access to Horizon Europe. The country is widely seen as an innovation beacon that’s geopolitically aligned with Europe, so it’s not hard to see why Brussels wants Singapore on board. There’s one catch: Horizon Europe rules say associate countries must have democratic institutions. Does that really apply to authoritarian Singapore? Commission officials insist the country is democratic enough. Science|Business has seen an internal Commission document (marked “sensitive”) defending the city state’s rights record – but human rights organisations aren’t buying it, and some MEPs are moving to oppose it. 

Egypt: The country is another controversial candidate. In March 2024, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen invited Egypt to begin “exploratory” talks on joining Horizon, as part of a €7.4 billion aid package intended to stem illegal migration to Europe. The quid-pro-quo appearance set off alarm bells with human rights groups. They rank Egypt among the world’s worst countries for academic freedom. For instance, an Italian graduate student researching labour unions was found dead on an Alexandria highway after being tortured – by Egyptian security forces, an Italian court charged. 

Australia: Canberra is still very much in the sights of Commission officials. It ticks every box, boasting democratic institutions, academic freedom, and strong intellectual property protection; it even participated in a modest way during Horizon 2020. But despite informal talks over possible terms and conditions, there hasn’t been much in the way of public enthusiasm from the Antipodean side, with reports that the Australian government is baulking at the cost.

The stalwarts 

Israel: The country was the first non-European country to formally associate to the EU Framework Programme back in 1996. It also has a roaring venture capital scene; and if the European Innovation Council really is intended to be a bridge to the financial world, there will be a compelling argument to involve the country in the competition. But following Israel’s assault on Gaza this past year, a number of European universities have decided to boycott joint research with the country, throwing into confusion several Horizon Europe projects where Israel was involved. Still, for the moment Israeli researchers are eligible for Horizon money and are applying and winning grants. But like everything in the region lately, no one knows when this will all blow up further or quieten down. 

Norway: Norway’s full access to Horizon Europe comes by dint of its membership of the European Economic Area, which puts it inside the EU single market. That means it skips most of the budgetary and legal hurdles other associates face, and its main research establishments are better plugged into the Brussels grant machinery than most EU universities. Of course, in Norwegian politics there have been occasional grumbles that the EU fleeces the oil-rich country, given Norway pays more into the EU than it gets back. But there’s no real drama here: Norway remains one of the most stalwart associated countries. 

South Africa: Formal association to Horizon Europe appears unnecessary. South Africa already gets special access to Horizon grants through various EU aid and cooperation budgets, and so far its leaders haven’t heard a strong argument about the advantages of full association. As the biggest science player in Africa, South African researchers won more than 200 grants, and received €52.1 million, from Horizon 2020. These included efforts to develop new drugs and vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, to improve satellite earth-observation systems, and to study the south Atlantic Ocean. The EU also co-funded the planning for the country’s biggest science project, the Square Kilometre Array, the world’s biggest radio telescope.

The superpowers on the outside

China: In its rush to global scientific prominence, China now produces more academic papers than any other nation except the US – and on some metrics has even overtaken its great rival. It also has more laboratory scientists than any other country, and outspends the entire EU on research and development. But as east-west tensions rose, the 2021 Horizon Europe legislation implicitly barred China from full membership, as it requires “fair and equitable dealing with intellectual property rights, backed by democratic institutions”. The door remained open to individual projects on which Chinese scientists could participate, with funding from their own government. 

But claims that sensitive lab data has been leaking to Beijing and exploited there – especially for military projects – has led to a further chilling. Horizon Europe projects with China are now largely restricted to environment-focused, let’s-save-the-world-together type research, rather than anything sensitive. China is also prohibited from taking part in close-to-market innovation actions, because of EU concerns the country doesn’t offer outsiders a fair playing field in its own markets. 

United States: The world’s joint biggest science and technology power will almost certainly never be a formal member of Horizon Europe – but that doesn’t mean it won’t continue, and most likely expand, its collaboration with the EU. As it is, American researchers are already the most frequent “third country” participants in Horizon projects. That’s usually with US money, public or private. But in special circumstances, when the Commission decides US participation is essential, Horizon provides the funding. And some US universities have been opening or expanding EU-based campuses to tap legally into the EU funding.

But the return of Donald Trump as president could throw everything into doubt – in part because the transatlantic relationship didn’t go very well last time around. At that time, there was a special EU-US “implementing arrangement” to facilitate US participation in Horizon projects. But in the waning days of the Trump administration, US officials claimed the EU wasn’t honouring the deal properly, an accusation the Commission refutes. In the new Trump era, science policy analysts generally expect transatlantic cooperation to continue and even grow – but that may not be thanks to Horizon. Generally, American science agencies prefer to work directly with science agencies in the individual member states, such as the UK, Germany and France. US officials say they find it simpler to collaborate that way, rather than negotiate the complex legal and administrative procedures of the Commission. It also, Commission officials grumble, gives the US more leverage in one-on-one negotiations.

Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from the 2024 edition of Horizon Europe: The essential guide. If this guide is for you, so is the Science|Business Funding Newswire, a specialised news channel to help you find your way and stay up to date in the fast-moving world of research funding.