UPDATE 2020-12-10:

euResearch has made an excellent step-by-step guide on how to add Associated Partners to a proposal in the F&T portal. You can find it as well attached to this infosheet.

UPDATE 2021-09-09:

Please check the attached document for a detailed description of the situation! Especially for CSA call topics, Swiss partners can be problematic.

UPDATE 2021-08-23: The essence summarized:

• Entities based in Switzerland can participate in Horizon Europe. However, as Switzerland is considered a non-associated third country, Swiss entities (including companies and SME) can apply only for those calls of Horizon Europe and related programmes and initiatives open to non-associated third country participation and must submit their proposals as participants from a non-associated third country.
• Swiss legal entities who take part in collaborative projects open to non-associated third country participation, will receive funding via the SERI (a Swiss government body). A financial guarantee statement is provided by SERI on its website.
• In the new generation of EU Programmes for Research and Innovation, entities from non-associated third countries participate as ‘associated partners’ in the collaborative projects.
  The budget of the associated partner is indicated in the project proposal, but not taken into account in the project’s EU contribution.
• Participants from non-associated third countries cannot coordinate projects. They can lead work packages as any other participant.

With the publication of the work programmes coming closer, you might wonder how to deal with Swiss partners in a collaborative project.

Any researchers, organisations or companies based in Switzerland who want to participate in an Horizon Europe 2021 call (or other related programmes and initiatives) can do so without restrictions and submit as coming from an Associated Country (AC).

This conforms to the transition clause in Annexe B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme, according to which entities from all countries associated to Horizon 2020 are automatically considered as based in an AC and are thus eligible for funding under Horizon Europe during project submission.

To recap, any Swiss partner in a successful Horizon Europe proposal will be fully funded, either by the EC if the association of Switzerland goes through until the time of the signature of the GA, or by the Swiss Government, if the association agreement is not in force when the Grant Agreement is signed.

Should a change in the status of participants from non-EU Member States (e.g. from beneficiary to ‘associated partner’) become necessary, it can be adapted until the final phase of the GA preparation or throughout the project.

More (and always up-to-date) information can be found at on the website of the Swiss government, including a FAQ with answers the most common questions.