Politicians told to make space for third countries in Horizon Europe

The EU’s next R&D programme Horizon Europe needs a strategy to increase the low participation of non-European countries, a group of advisers has said.

The international cooperation strategy for Horizon Europe “should be spelled out more clearly” the Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation said in an opinion paper published on 15 January. The committee, which is a configuration of the European Research Area Committee, advises EU politicians on R&D policymaking.

In addition, the various parts of Horizon Europe that are open to participation of countries outside the EU and without an association agreement to the programme “should be integrated into a coherent strategic and operational approach”, the forum said. This is needed to prevent the participation of non-European countries falling as low as it has in the current EU R&D programme Horizon 2020, it said.