Following the nineteenth EU-Canada summit in St John’s, Canada, the two sides have announced that they have concluded the official negotiations on Canada’s association to Horizon Europe.
In a joint statement, issued at the end of Friday, both sides confirmed that Canada will be associated to Pillar II of the programme, which focuses on finding solutions to global challenges:
“Today, we are pleased to announce the completion of substantive negotiations on Canada’s association to Pillar II of Horizon Europe, which once signed and implemented will provide new opportunities for international science partnerships on global challenges.”
The signature of the association agreement is foreseen in the coming months, once the necessary ratification procedures on both sides have concluded. We also expect the Commission to soon issue guidance on the so-called transitional measures for Canadian organisations applying to calls for proposals under the six Clusters of Pillar II, which will allow them to be included in the relevant bids as beneficiaries (requesting EU funding). Until this happens Canadian organisations should continue to be included in applications as Associated Partners (without EU funding).
The association will enable Canadian organisations to participate in Pillar II projects on equal terms with entities from the EU Member States. However, for all other parts of the programme (i.e. Pillar I and Pillar III), Canada will be considered a non-associated third country.
This is the second time that a highly industrialised country outside of Europe has joined the EU framework programme for research and innovation after New Zealand became formally associated to Horizon Europe earlier this year.
Update on other candidate Associated Countries
The UK will be associated to the programme as of 1 January 2024, as announced on 7 September and earlier this week, the Commission signaled its willingness to restart talks on association with Switzerland.
South Korea, which started its official negotiations in May this year, is now expected to become associated to Horizon Europe as of 2025, while Japan continues its exploratory talks on association with the EU.
Further information about the association policy in Horizon Europe is available in UKRO’s dedicated factsheet (see the ‘Related content’ section).