Horizon Europe now stretches to the other side of the world. Over the past five years, fourteen non-EU countries have joined, including South Korea, Egypt, and New Zealand. Talks with Australia opened last year, and negotiations with Japan have just been concluded.

The European Horizon program, which spends more than €13 billion a year on scientific research, now includes 23 ‘associated’ countries, in addition to the EU’s 27 member states.

Paying in

Japan will ceremonially sign the agreement later this year, but Japanese researchers can already benefit. They no longer have to join a European research group to be eligible for European funding. They can now submit their own applications for Japanese research conducted on Japanese soil.

That does come at a cost. Details of the deal will be made public later, but partner countries often contribute more to Horizon than their researchers ultimately receive from the program.

Still, countries are eager to take part, says Annabel Hoven. She recently changed jobs, but at the time of the interview she was a policy advisor at Neth-ER, the interest group for Dutch knowledge institutions in Brussels. “Horizon has effectively become an international brand. It funds only excellent research, and it’s a competitive system. Researchers are proud to list a Horizon grant on their CV.”

Geopolitical leverage

That growing prestige allows the EU to deploy Horizon as a diplomatic instrument, Hoven says. Science is increasingly used to strengthen ties with other countries. And Europe has something tangible to offer: in scientific terms, only China and the United States can truly compete with the EU. Brussels is keenly aware of that position.

The responsible European Commissioner, Ekaterina Zaharieva, openly refers to science and innovation as a geopolitical currency: a means of international exchange. “Today, more than ever, science, technology, and innovation translate into power and geopolitical influence.”

For the EU, ‘science diplomacy’ has become part of its diplomatic toolkit. In 2024, for example, Egypt pledged to curb migration flows to Europe. A year later, the country joined Horizon.

Security and stability

Meri Georgievska-Van de Laar, director of European affairs at Erasmus University, is not cynical about science as an international lubricant. She has seen firsthand how European cooperation drove progress in North Macedonia, where she was born and raised, and in Turkey, where she worked for many years. Both countries are EU candidate members and were therefore granted early access to Horizon.

In her view, more countries south of Europe should be involved in Horizon. “These countries have expertise in areas where Europe is vulnerable: water security, drought management, infectious diseases, sustainable agriculture … we can learn a lot from them.” Tunisia has been participating for some time; the EU announced new talks with Jordan earlier this January.

Having safe and stable countries around Europe also enhances Europe’s own security, Georgievska-Van de Laar believes. “In effect, through the participation of countries like Egypt we gain strategic allies who also pay for their participation and share their talent and knowledge with us.”

A billion ‘residents’

Switzerland already participated in Horizon’s predecessor in 1987, followed in the 1990s by Iceland, Norway, and Israel. More countries joined later, but growth has accelerated sharply since 2021, largely because countries from all over the world became eligible. Fourteen new partner countries signed up, including New Zealand, South Korea, and Canada.

Thanks to the 124 million Japanese citizens now joining in, the 23 partner countries together have a population of 593 million, compared to 450 million in the EU member states themselves. Combined, the Horizon countries now represent more than one billion people. Does this make it harder for researchers from a small country like the Netherlands to secure funding?

Competition?

You can expect a lot of grant applications, especially from countries like Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Canada, says Annabel Hoven of Neth-ER. These countries have more advanced scientific infrastructures.

At the same time, however, the expansion also increases the overall funding pool. “And control over that money remains with the EU. The associated countries play a role in implementation, but they have no say in strategic decisions, such as which types of research receive funding.”

Dutch researchers may not necessarily lose out when more countries join. When the United Kingdom, a scientific powerhouse, rejoined Horizon after Brexit, it did not affect the number of grants awarded to the Netherlands.

World power

Collaboration with non-European countries came under scrutiny because of Israeli violence in Gaza. Last year, the European Commission considered excluding the country from Horizon, but Germany in particular blocked that move. In the Netherlands, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) continues to argue for suspending Israel from Horizon.

What about a country like Egypt, then? It struggles not only with corruption, but is also far from democratic and offers little academic freedom. So far, the KNAW has not taken a position on Egypt’s accession, a spokesperson confirmed.

The values of the EU and those of scientists will clash more often, Georgievska-Van de Laar of Erasmus University says. We should not be naïve about that. Of course, knowledge security must be monitored, as the EU is already doing.

“We need to cooperate where it is safe and useful, and protect what is sensitive and strategic. But only by working together can we make Europe a leading scientific world power.”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.