The co-signatories underline that despite the recent breakdown of the conclusion of an institutional framework agreement between the EU and Switzerland, it is vital to continue the long established and mutually beneficial cooperation in the domains of research and of innovation between institutions from the EU and Switzerland.
The letter highlights that Switzerland is home to world-class research institutions, such as our Members the Ecole Polytéchnique Fédérale de Lausanne and ETH Zurich, and is ranked among the most competitive and innovative countries in the world.
The downgrading of Swiss institutions to indirect participation in Horizon Europe would severely limit their contribution to collaborations that help to tackle our shared local and global challenges and to the advancement of the European Research Area (ERA). This would result in a lose-lose situation, putting successful cooperation in strategic areas at risk and ultimately weaken the ERA as a whole.
As of 9 June, the other co-signatories are the Austrian Science Council; the Estonian Academy of Sciences; the Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship; the Latvian Council of Science; the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary; the Research Council of Lithuania; the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy; Academia Europea (The Academy of Europe); the Research FoundationFlanders (FWO); Science Europe; the Aurora Universities Network; the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU); the Coimbra Group; the League of European Research Universities (LERU); The Guild; the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA); and the Universities of Applied Sciences for Europe (UAS4Europe).