Horizon Europe
Japan will want a say, too
Canada is paying money into Horizon Europe without having any say in what the programme does. And it might soon be joined by Japan. Tensions are inevitable.
Mount Fuji, looming over the city of Tokyo. | Photo: Philip Fong/AFP/ via Getty Images
According to an article in the magazine Science Business, the question as to who runs the Horizon Europe research programme is becoming increasingly urgent. By late 2023, Canada and New Zealand had become “associated third countries” of “the greatest research and innovation mechanism in the world right now”, in the words of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Japan is now also considering association.
But Science Business believes that while Canada and New Zealand might find it acceptable to pay money into Horizon Europe without any say in the programme, the strength of Japan’s research base – and hence the corresponding amount it would have to pay – make its situation different. At present, only the EU member states and the EU Commission have the right to vote on controversial matters.
