The European Commission has launched formal negotiations on Japan's participation in the Horizon Europe program.

The European Commission has launched formal talks on Japan’s association to Horizon Europe.

In an announcement, published on 29 November, the European Commission said, if negotiations are successful, it would be the first time Japan had taken part in the ‘closest form of cooperation in the field of research and innovation that the EU can offer’.

With Horizon Europe, the EU has expanded the opportunity to other non-EU countries with a strong science, innovation and technology profile, including New Zealand, South Korea and Canada, which have all successfully negotiated their association to the programme. Negotiations with Egypt and Switzerland, which was expelled from Horizon Europe in 2021 over an ongoing treaty dispute, are still in process.

There are currently 19 countries associated with Horizon Europe, more than any previous EU research and innovation programme.

If the negotiations with Japan in the coming months are a success, researchers in the country will be able to receive funding for research and innovation projects under pillar II of the Horizon programme – tackling societal challenges through multinational collaborative projects – and seek further collaboration with partners in the EU and other associated countries.

Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, stated, "The opening of negotiations on associating Japan with Horizon Europe marks a giant leap forward for our cooperation." She added that "Research and innovation in both the EU and Japan are crucial for competitiveness, with economic, green, and digital transformations." It is with this collaboration that faster progress can be made, leading us to solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.