Bern and Brussels converge on EU research program

Bern and Brussels converge on EU research program Keystone-SDA

Switzerland and the European Union have apparently come closer in their negotiations on future relations. This was announced by Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and EU Vice-President Maros Sefcovic early on Thursday morning following a telephone conversation.

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The negotiating parties said they had made progress on the EU’s Horizon research program in particular. Apparently, Swiss researchers will be able to participate in the program next year. However, the details were not initially clear.

Sefcovic wrote on X (formerly Twitter) about a productive discussion with Cassis. He said he was pleased that significant progress had been made on institutional issues and state aid, as well as on a transitional agreement for Switzerland’s participation in Horizon in 2025.

+ Horizon is partially open to researchers in Switzerland again

At the same time, the Vice-President of the EU Commission also stressed that it was important to maintain the momentum in the talks on the free movement of persons. The exact form of the accompanying measures in favor of wage protection in Switzerland is disputed between Brussels and Bern.

For his part, Cassis wrote on X that there was good news regarding Switzerland’s participation in the next calls for proposals from the European Research Council, which is responsible for Horizon. According to his own statement, he had spoken to Sefcovic on the phone during his trip to Kyrgyzstan, which ended on Wednesday.

Economics Minister Guy Parmelin also reacted to the announcements on X. He expressed his delight: “This is an important step for science, research and innovation in Switzerland and Europe.”

Parmelin stated that the Swiss government continues to strive for full association with Horizon. Other non-EU countries had also received this.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp.

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