Today, Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Lee Jong Ho, Korean Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology, announced that official negotiations on South Korea’s association to Horizon Europe have been finalised.
Iliana Ivanova’s statement, issued this morning, welcomes South Korea into the growing Horizon Europe family and marks the occasion as another significant milestone in the EU’s commitment to fostering mutual collaboration in research and innovation:
“I am happy to welcome Korea into the Horizon family. This is a milestone for our cooperation and great news for global science and innovation. Together, we will be able to more effectively tackle global challenges.”
The signature of the association agreement is foreseen in the second half of 2024, once the necessary ratification procedures on both sides have concluded. This will enable South Korea’s participation in Pillar II of Horizon Europe on equal terms with entities from the EU Member States, as of 2025. However, for all other parts of the programme (i.e. Pillar I and Pillar III), South Korea will be considered a non-associated third country.
We expect the Commission to soon issue guidance on the so-called transitional measures for South Korean 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 (request EU funding). Until this happens South Korean organisations should continue to be included in applications as Associated Partners (without EU funding).
This is the third time that a highly industrialised country outside of Europe has joined the EU framework programme for research and innovation after New Zealand and Canada became formally associated to Horizon Europe in 2023.
Update on other candidate Associated Countries
The UK has been associated to the entire programme as of 1 January 2024.
Discussions continue between the EU and Switzerland. An agreement allowing for Switzerland’s participation in EU programmes, including Horizon Europe, has been announced as part of a larger package of bilateral measures to be negotiated between the two partners.
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).