On 8 March 2024, the Swiss Federal Council adopted the negotiating mandate with the European Union, while the EU adopted its mandate for negotiating its future relations with Switzerland on 12 March.
Both mandate sets out guidelines for the formal negotiations, which will start shortly. The EU-CH negotiations will cover a broad list of areas under the so-called package approach, including a systematic participation in EU programmes, particularly in research, innovation and education.
As stated in the EU-CH Common Understanding from 27 October 2023, a transitional arrangement could apply “on the understanding that the association process will be completed swiftly.”
“This transitional arrangement should apply once both Switzerland and the EU have adopted negotiation mandates and the negotiation process on the broad package, including on Union programmes, has started”. Switzerland could then participate in the ERC Advanced Grant call 2024 opening on 29 May 2024 and in the Proof of Concept 2024 with deadline in September 2024.
“The transitional arrangement should be extended to calls opening from the work programmes 2025 only if the agreement negotiated on Union programmes has been initialed by then.”
The Stick to Science campaign welcomes the adoption of both mandates and the expected start of the EU-CH formal negotiations on the “package approach” and more specifically on EU programmes. European R&I actors hopes that the EC will promptly confirm the eligibility of applications from Switzerland for the remaining ERC Calls 2024, as foreseen in the transitional arrangement.
Achieving full association of Switzerland to EU programmes is crucial to unlocking Europe’s complete scientific potential.