European Partnerships in research and innovation

European Partnerships are initiatives in which the European Union (EU) joins with public or private actors to coordinate or pool funding for specific research and innovation programmes. By creating such synergies with national and regional funding agencies, as well as with private sector initiatives, these Partnerships contribute to the EU's political priorities, such as the Green Deal, Europe's digital strategy or pandemic preparedness.

European Partnerships are funded via Pillar II and III of Horizon Europe. The previously complex variety of governance structures for Partnerships has been simplified under Horizon Europe. The latest generation of European Partnerships now comprises three types of Partnerships. These are distinguished by the nature and depth of the coordination between the EU (represented by the European Commission) and its partners. There is also now a systemic process for selecting, implementing, and monitoring all Partnerships, integrated within the Strategic Planning of Horizon Europe.

A total of 49 Partnerships have been launched under the first strategic plan of Horizon Europe covering the period 2021–2024. A further 9 Co-funded and Co-programmed Partnerships are foreseen under the second strategic plan of Horizon Europe, to be launched during the period 2025–2027. 

Below you can find an explanation of the different types of Partnerships as well as information regarding Swiss participation in specific Partnership activities.

Co-funded Partnerships

Co-funded Partnerships involve public authorities, usually research funding agencies. A Co-funded Partnership is initiated through a dedicated call for proposals in the Horizon Europe work programme. The selected consortium of funding organisations then signs a grant agreement with the European Commission.

Although these Partnerships typically involve research funders, it is also possible to include foundations and international organisations as partners. Calls and evaluations are organised centrally, while beneficiaries in selected projects are typically funded at national level (based on rules established by the partners). The EU co-finances up to 50% of the budget, but the most common EU funding rate is 30%.

Co-programmed Partnerships

Co-programmed Partnerships are set up between the EU (as represented by the European Commission) and private and/or public partners. They are based on memoranda of understanding and/or contractual arrangements specifying the objectives, the roadmap, partners’ commitments, and deliverables.

Unlike co-funded actions, the funding is not pooled, but rather the Partnership allows for two separate programmes to be coordinated. Complementary research and innovation activities are implemented separately by the partners and by the EU through parallel work programmes funding up to 60% of the direct costs. The contribution of the EU is implemented through calls in the regular Horizon Europe work programme.

Institutionalised Partnerships

Institutionalised Partnerships are more long-term and highly integrated initiatives. They are implemented by dedicated legal structures based on a European Commission proposal, a decision by the Council of the EU, and sometimes also by the European Parliament.

They usually cover specific value chains, where a significant integration of private and public research and innovation efforts is needed to achieve ambitious policy objectives. Institutionalised Partnerships are implemented either by several Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe, by dedicated bodies such as Joint Undertakings, or in the form of EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities. The EU co-finances up to 50% of the budget.

Switzerland’s participation

Legal entities based in Switzerland are eligible to participate in the research and innovation actions of only some Partnerships, depending on their type and composition. See below the complete list of Partnerships in which Swiss entities can participate.

Swiss entities are eligible to participate in all calls that are published in the Horizon Europe work programme and open to non-associated third countries. This is true in particular for Co-programmed Partnerships. Co-funded and Institutionalised Partnerships typically have their own separate work programmes.

In the case of Co-funded Partnerships, Swiss entities can only participate if a Swiss funding agency (such as the Swiss National Science Foundation or Innosuisse) or a Swiss Federal Office (such as the Federal Office of Public Health or the Federal Office of Energy) elect to contribute the required national co-funding.

This limitation also applies to those Institutionalised Partnerships that require national co-funding. However, a number of Institutionalised Partnerships do not require national co-funding. In such cases, Swiss entities are eligible and successful participants can apply for funding via the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

List of Partnerships where Swiss participation is possible

Partnership name	Partnership type	Swiss funding agency participating in the Partnership (if applicable)
Pillar 2, Cluster 1: Health
European Partnership for Risk Assessment of Chemicals (PARC)	Co-funded	Currently no funding opportunities
European Partnership for Transformation of Health Care Systems (THCS)	Co-funded	SNSF, Innosuisse
European Partnership for Rare Diseases	Co-funded	SNSF
European Partnership for Personalised Medicine	Co-funded	Innosuisse
European Partnership for One Health/AMR Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)	Co-funded	SNSF
European Partnership Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)	Institutionalized	SERI
European Partnerships for EU-Africa Global Health (EDCTP3)	Institutionalized	SERI
Pillar 2, Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space
Chips JU (PDF, 131 kB, 07.11.2024) (successor as of 2024 to the former Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking)	Institutionalized	SERI, Annex C for Swiss participants (XLSX, 286 kB, 12.04.2024)
European Partnership for Metrology	Institutionalized	SERI
European Partnership for Smart Networks and Services	Institutionalized	SERI
Pillar 2, Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility
European Partnership for Driving Urban Transitions to a Sustainable Future (DUT)	Co-funded	SNSF, Innosuisse, SFOE
European Partnership for Clean Energy Transition (CETP)	Co-funded	SNSF, BFE
European Partnership for transforming Europe's rail system	Institutionalized	SERI
European Partnership for Integrated Air Traffic Management (ATM)	Institutionalized	SERI
European Partnership for Clean Aviation	Institutionalized	SERI
European Partnership on Clean Hydrogen	Institutionalized	SERI
Pillar 2, Cluster 6: Food, Bio-economy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
European Partnership for Rescuing Biodiversity to Safeguard Life on Earth (Biodiversa+)	Co-funded	SNSF
European Partnership Water4all: Water security for the planet	Co-funded	SNSF
European Partnership for Accelerating Farming Systems Transition: Agroecology living labs and research infrastructures	Co-funded	FOAG
European Partnership on Environmental Observations for a sustainable EU agriculture (Agriculture of data)	Co-funded	FOAG
European Partnership for Safe and Sustainable Food Systems for People, Planet and Climate	Co-funded	FOAG
European Partnership for a Circular bio-based Europe	Institutionalized	SERI
Pillar III of Horizon Europe: Innovative Europe
European Partnership for Innovative SMEs (Successor programme to Eurostars 2)	Co-funded	Innosuisse