Looking back
The Swiss parliament approved CHF 4.4 billion for the years 2014-2020, mostly for Horizon 2020 (H2020), the 8th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (R&I). Both the considerable budget and the strategic significance make H2020 so important for Switzerland. H2020 is the second most significant public R&I funding source for research and the most valuable for companies. Moreover, H2020 occupies a pivotal position in terms of international outreach for Switzerland. Because of political tensions, which are unrelated to R&I, the EU downgraded Switzerland to "Third Country" status in H2020.
The situation today
Thanks to a transitional solution, Switzerland can continue to participate with "Associated Country" status in Pillar I. In Pillars II and III, where Switzerland is a Third Country, Swiss participation in successful proposals is compensated by national funding. An automatic clause will terminate this situation at the end of 2016.
Looking forward
The Federal Council is pursuing the baseline scenario of a full association from 2017 onward. However, a scenario where Switzerland falls back to Third Country status in all pillars remains possible. In my view, the full association will only materialise if the EU and Switzerland have agreed on the implementation of the free movement of persons.
Let me be frank: There is no substitute for H2020 but there are of course alternatives. However, all the alternatives would be less favourable for Switzerland – and less favourable for the EU too from an R&I perspective. My guess is that we will know in which direction we are going by summer.
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