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The background of international cooperation including details about the current process of association of some non-EU countries is explained in the infosheet International Cooperation in Horizon Europe.

In this infosheet you can find detailed information on how to include non-EU countries in your Horizon Europe proposal.

How to include partners of non-EU countries in Horizon Europe proposals?

If the entity will be possibly eligible for funding (on the list of associated countries or automatically eligible), then this entity can be included as a beneficiary in the proposal (if it is not stated otherwise in the specific call topic you apply to).

But an entity from a country in view of association (as listed in the HE Programme Guide)  can solely be a beneficiary when the association agreement is signed for that country before the grant agreement signature. If this is not the case, then the status of this entity cannot be beneficiary but will have to be changed to associated partner and this entity can consequently:

• not receive funding and
• not be a coordinator of the consortium.

If a partner in a consortium is coming from a country that is not automatically eligible for funding or not in view of association, then this entity has to be mentioned in the proposal as associated partner. In some exceptional cases participants from third countries that are not automatically eligible for funding can be funded by Horizon Europe if one of the following conditions are met:

• they are identified in the relevant Horizon Europe work programme as being eligible for funding or
• they are deemed essential for implementing the action in your proposal and approved by the granting authority , for example in view of their:
  • outstanding competence/expertise
  • access to particular research infrastructures
  • access to particular geographical environments
  • access to particular data

Associated partners – some characteristics

• do not sign the grant agreement, thus cannot be a coordinator
• must be registered in the participant register but will not be validated
• need to be mentioned in the researchers table (organisation data) of part A in the application form
• they have to indicate personmonths of their researchers
• can be a subcontractor but cannot be a way to circumvent the general rules for participation
• the L&F helpdesk of the European Commission has indicated that associated partners can act as work package leader in a Horizon Europe project
• in the proposal the budget for the associated partners has to be filled out in the column “Financial contribution”. This budget will not be taken into account into the indicative budget of the proposal

How to include Switzerland in HE proposals?

The negotations between Switzerland and the European Commision regarding the association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe have restarted in March 2024. For 2024, the transitional arrangements only apply to the ERC Advanced Grants 2024 call. The transitional arrangements set out in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide do not apply to the other calls (such as calls under pillar 2). This is envisaged for 2025. Hence, partners from Switzerland should be still included as an associated partner in collaborative project proposals under pillar 2, thus not able to receive funding through Horizon Europe and not able to act as a coordinator. 

For the latest updated information regarding the association of Switzerland please consult the website of the Swiss State Secretariat For Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

In any case the Swiss government has declared that they will provide funding for all Swiss entities that are participating as an associated partner in successful submitted proposals under the 2024 calls in Horizon Europe (mainly pillar 2). More information on this Swiss guarantee fund can be found this guide.

Relevant documents and links:

On this page you will find more details on the Swiss transitional measures for Horizon Europe.

In this FAQ of the Swiss Government and FAQ of the European Commission you may find an answer to your most pressing questions regarding the participation of Swiss entities in Horizon Europe. 

This factsheet provides you a quick summary on the eligibility and participation of Swiss Partners.

What is the impact of the EU restrictive measures against Russia on Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe grants?

As a consequence of the EU restrictive measures against Russia, as of 10 May 2022 Russian entities are excluded from participation in the Horizon Europe calls. These restrictive measures also have implications on ongoing projects under Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe whereof the grant agreement has already been signed and Russian entities are involved.

More and detailed information on the implications can be found in this FAQ from the European Commission.