Switzerland will remain a non-associated third country for Horizon Europe calls in 2021
Important news for Swiss interested parties: the European Commission (EC) has announced that Switzerland will be treated as a non-associated third country for the submission of project proposals in the Horizon Europe programme and other related programmes and initiatives. This decision will have consequences for Swiss participants.
No EU funding for Switzerland
The EC has informed the Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) that Switzerland will be treated as a non-associated third country, or in other words a non-EU state. This means that, as a high-income third country, Switzerland will not be eligible for funding from the EC. This status can be changed at any time, but for now applies to all calls for 2021 (meaning all calls with the call identifier 2021).
Although Swiss parties will not receive EU funding, they are still able to participate in approximately 2/3 of Horizon Europe and in most collaborative projects. Furthermore, instead of EU funding, Swiss project partners will be funded by SERI during the lifetime of the project. To receive funding from SERI, projects must be fully and positively evaluated by the EC.
Exclusion from which programmes?
This status applies to Horizon Europe as well as the Digital Europe and Euratom programmes. As mentioned, Swiss partners can still participate in a large portion of Horizon Europe and collaborative projects. However, they can only apply for calls open to non-associated third country participation and they must submit their proposals as participants from a non-associated third country. Furthermore, they are excluded from mono-beneficiary instruments, namely the individual ERC grants, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, MSCA COFUND and EIC Accelerator.
There are some exceptions to this rule, for example: proposals already submitted for the first cut-off date of the 2021 EIC Accelerator call have been evaluated and, those that have successfully passed the two evaluation steps, will be provided with direct funding from SERI.
In the following document you will find more information on some of the exceptions as well as answers to many other questions on Swiss participation in Horizon Europe and related programmes/initiatives.
Learn more about Horizon Europe and Swiss participation
Contact us for more information on this change for Swiss entities and how it will effect new plans or projects. Our specialists would be happy to answer all your questions on the matter.
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