The Council of the EU has provided the Commission with the negotiating mandates for official talks on Japan and South Korea’s association to Horizon Europe. This paves the way for the start of formal negotiations – most likely later this year – as soon as both countries adopt their own negotiating positions.
The Council’s negotiating mandates follow a template for the participation of non-EU countries in EU programmes, which had been developed by the Commission prior to the launch of the current generation of EU spending programmes back in 2021. They include provisions related to the potential financial contributions of Japan and South Korea to Horizon Europe’s budget, reciprocal access to their national R&I programmes, as well as the scope of their association to Horizon Europe. In both cases, the Commission has the mandate to offer them only association to Pillar II ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ of Horizon Europe – similar to what had previously been offered to Canada and New Zealand.
Both mandates include the possibility to introduce clauses in the prospective association agreements that would ensure their retroactive application, which – depending on how quickly the negotiations progress – could mean that Japan and South Korea would be considered as already associated on 1 January 2024, even if the association agreements are not ratified by that date.
Update on the association of other non-European countries
Formal negotiations with New Zealand on the association to Horizon Europe were concluded before the end of 2022 and the association agreement is currently pending ratification on both sides. In the meantime, as previously reported by UKRO, organisations from New Zealand are covered by a special transitional arrangement, which allows them to be included in applications to upcoming Horizon calls as beneficiaries requesting EU funding.
Canada is still negotiating its participation terms with the Commission and is expected to become associated to Horizon Europe during 2023.
Further information about international cooperation and the association policy of Horizon Europe is available in UKRO’s dedicated factsheet (link in the “Related content” section on the right).