Published on 2 December 2025

Participation in EU programmes

It is the Federal Council's intention to stabilise and further develop the tried-and-tested bilateral approach with the EU. This also includes participation in EU programmes, particularly in the areas of education, research and innovation. As Switzerland is an extremely innovative country, this cooperation is of paramount importance. The EU Programmes Agreement provides the framework for cooperation.

The EU has funding programmes for research, innovation, education, vocational training, youth, sport, culture and other fields. Non-EU member states like Switzerland can take part in these programmes under certain conditions.

The EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA), which forms part of the Swiss–EU package, provides the legal framework for Switzerland's participation in EU programmes. The EUPA allows Switzerland to participate in current EU programmes more systematically and lays the foundation for possible future participation in other EU programmes. Switzerland and the EU are both committed to achieving this objective. The EUPA was signed in Bern in November 2025. This part of the Swiss–EU package can be provisionally applied with retroactive effect from the beginning of 2025. As a result, Switzerland is associated to Horizon Europe, the Euratom programme and the Digital Europe programme, with plans for it to participate in the ITER research infrastructure from 1 January 2026. The agreement also paves the way for further associations, e.g. Erasmus+.

Owing to the lack of rules to stabilise overall bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU, Switzerland has been denied association to important cooperation programmes such as Horizon Europe, Euratom and Erasmus+ (2021–27) since 2021. Stabilizing and further developing the bilateral approach has now enabled Switzerland to regain full association to these EU programmes.

Documents

Contact

Europe Division
State Secretariat STS-FDFA
Federal Palace East
3003 Bern