!!Open Letter of European STI Councils and Advisory Bodies and other Science Organisations on the Participation of Switzerland under Horizon Europe


__Academia Europaea unreservedly endorses and supports the concerns as expressed in the open letter of the European STI Councils and Advisory Bodies and other Science Organisations on the Participation of Switzerland under Horizon Europe.__
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Over  the  last  years,  the  Swiss  Confederation  and  the  European  Commission held complex  negotiations about  market  access,  which unfortunately did  not  result  in  a successful  outcome. Hopefully, new  ways  will  be  found  to  overcome  this  difficult situation and clarify the relationship. 
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The signatories of this letter would like to underlinethe importance of continuing the long established and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Switzerland in the domain of research and innovation. Swiss participation in European FPs already started in the 1980s. As of 2004, Switzerland has been an Associated Country, with a short-term interruption as partially Associated Country between 2014 - 2016. Under the previous FPs, Switzerland has made important contributions in many fields, such as the health sector, climate, and quantum technologies. Furthermore, Switzerland is a founding member of the European Space Agency as well as COST and EUREKA and  together  with  France  host  country  to  the European  Organization  for  Nuclear Research(CERN). 
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Switzerland is home to world-class research institutions and ranked among the most competitive and innovative  countries  for  years. As an open nation to research and innovation, it contributes through its collaborations   and co-authorships to the excellence of the European Research  Area(ERA). Downgrading  Switzerland to  a Third  Country  would  severely  limit  its  expertise  being  brought  into Horizon Europe projects tackling today’s and tomorrow’s global challenges. We are convinced that this would lead to a lose-lose situation, putting successful cooperation in strategic areas at risk and ultimately weaken the ERA as a whole.
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Global  competition in  R&I is on the rise and becomes more and more multipolar; geopolitical tensions worldwide increased as well. At the same time, the world faces unprecedented  challenges such as the post-Covid  recovery and  Climate  Change. Therefore, Europe should stand together and unite its forces.
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As  Science,  Technology, and Innovation organisations, we are sincerely convinced that a full association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe will ensure the continuity of a successful collaboration between the Swiss Confederation and the European Unionin Research and Innovation. 
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''Date of Publication: 07.06.2021 (will be updated regularly)''
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''Signatories (logos below):''
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[Austrian Science Council|https://www.wissenschaftsrat.ac.at/en]; [Estonian Academy of Sciences|https://www.akadeemia.ee/en]; [Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship|https://www.vario.be/en]; [Latvian  Council of Science|https://lzp.gov.lv/en]; [National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary|https://nkfih.gov.hu]; [Research Council of Lithuania|https://www.lmt.lt/en]; [The Danish Council for  Research and  Innovation Policy|https://ufm.dk/en/legislation/prevailing-laws-and-regulations/research-and-innovation/the-danish-council-for-research-and-innovation-policy]; __Academia Europea__  (The Academy of Europe); [Aurora Universities Network|https://aurora-network.global]; [European Consortium of Innovative  Universities|https://www.eciu.org] (ECIU); [Coimbra Group|https://www.coimbra-group.eu]; [League of European  Research Universities|https:/www.leru.org] (LERU); [The Guild|https://www.the-guild.eu]; [Universities from the Capitals of Europe|https://www.unica-network.eu] (UNICA); [Universities of Applied Sciences for Europe|https://uas4europe.eu] (UAS4Europe), [Research Foundation – Flanders|https://www.fwo.be/en] (FWO); [Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research|https://www.cesaer.org] (CESAER); [Science Europe|https://www.scienceeurope.org], [Croatian Science Foundation|https://hrzz.hr/en]; [Dutch Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation|https://english.awti.nl]] (AWTI); [Max Planck Society|https://www.mpg.de/de]; [EuroTech Universities Alliance|https://eurotech-universities.eu]; [Eucor - The European Campus|https://www.eucor-uni.org/de], [Foundation for Polish Science|https://www.fnp.org.pl], [Czech Science Foundation|https://gacr.cz/en], [Luxembourg National Research Fund|https:/www.fnr.lu]; [National Science Centre|https://www.ncn.gov.pl/?language=en] - Poland; [IDEA League|https://idealeague.org]; [Development and Innovation Council|http://www.czech-research.com/rd-system/key-players/research-development-and-innovation-council], Czech Republic; [European University Association|https://eua.eu] (EUA); [Fund for Scientific Research|https://www.frs-fnrs.be/en/le-fnrs/missions-du-fnrs] (FNRS), Belgium; [Vinnova|https://www.vinnova.de] - Sweden; [Conseil des recteurs|http://www.cref.be] (CRef), Belgium.
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!Contact information and coordination of this initiative:

[Swiss Science Council|https://www.swir.ch/en/publications-ssc/ssic-secretariat-working-paper-2] SSC\\
Claudia Acklin (Head of Secretariat): [claudia.acklin@swr.admin.ch|mailto:claudia.acklin@swr.admin.ch]\\
Joël Graf (Scientific Advisor): [joel.graf@swr.admin.ch|mailto:joel.graf@swr.admin.ch]
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Download the [open letter|OpenLetter_09072021_WithLogos.pdf].
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