Swiss parliament gives H2020 consent

The upper chamber of the Swiss parliament has consented to the country’s participation in Horizon 2020.

The Council of States voted 44:0 votes in favour of the country’s involvement and this now paves the way for the Swiss government to continue formal contractual negotiations with Brussels to agree final arrangements on Horizon 2020.

There was general consensus in the upper chamber of the importance of continuing to participate in the EU framework programmes. Speaking in the parliament, Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, the head of the department for business, education and research, said: “International networking and the competition with other countries will strengthen our research.”

The Council of States also voted 30:9 in favour of Switzerland’s participation in the parts of Horizon 2020 corresponding to the EURATOM Treaty, which is dedicated to nuclear energy research.

The National Council, the lower house of the Swiss parliament, gave the government its consent to participate in Horizon 2020 in June. The country is expected to contribute 4.4bn CHF (~€3.5bn) towards the framework programme, considered the second-largest independent funding source for the science in the Switzerland, according to the Swiss National Science Foundation.