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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?

Switzerland has expressed their interest to be associated to Horizon Europe but legal entities established in Switzerland are currently not covered by the transitional arrangements set out in the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024. 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).

According to the Horizon Europe Programme Guide a partner from Switzerland should be included as an associated partner in the proposals, thus not able to receive funding through Horizon Europe and not able to act as a coordinator. Since things can evolve, the Programme Guide should be regularly consulted.

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 2023 calls in Horizon Europe (mainly pillar 2). This funding guarantee has been extended to the 2024 calls for collaborative projects.

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.

How to deal with UK Partners in Horizon Europe?

The European Commission and the UK have reached an agreement on 7 September 2023 that will allow the UK to participate as associated country in Horizon Europe starting from the 2024 Work Programme and onwards including any 2024 calls opening in 2023. As participants from an associated country UK researchers will be able to participate in the Horizon Europe calls on the same terms as participants from Member States. As for the remaining calls under the 2023 Work Programme, transitional arrangements will continue to be applicable and funding for the UK participation in the remaining 2023 calls will be covered by the UK financial guarantee. In order to receive funding under the UK financial guarantee scheme UK partners will need to be added as beneficiary in the consortium at the proposal stage. More information on the funding for UK partners under the financial guarantee scheme and its application procedure can be found here. To be clear, calls from the 2024 Work Programme onwards will be covered by association.

Relevant documents and links:

For the latest updates on UK’s association to Horizon Europe, please consult the UKRO Factsheet.

This webinar organized by Universities UK International, the UK Science and Innovation Network and the UK Research Office in Brussels will provide you with the most recent updates on the UK participation in Horizon Europe and give you more information on the UK Horizon Europe financial guarantee.

UKRO organised a webinar to provide more practical information on the Grant Agreement Preparation phase for projects with UK entities in case the status of the UK partner needs to be changed to associated partner.

FAQ of the European Commission regarding UK participants in Horizon Europe.

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.