(23 Dec 2025) Japan has agreed to join Horizon Europe, becoming the biggest country yet to associate to the EU’s €93.5 billion research and innovation programme. The development confirms the EU’s emerging role as a leader in global science and technology cooperation.
The deal, announced on December 22, is to be signed off officially in 2026, but Japanese researchers and companies can already apply for calls starting in January and join projects on an equal footing with partners in the EU and other associated countries. They can apply for grants under the so-called Pillar II of Horizon Europe, a set of funding schemes for collaborative projects between academia and industry.
Japan is the 23rd non-EU country to join Horizon Europe, after a broader political push in Brussels to create stronger links with the world’s major science powers. The country is among the world’s top science powers, spending 3.4% of its gross domestic product on research and development in 2023 – matching the US, and surpassing the EU itself, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The deal also highlights the endangered role of the US in global science, as the Trump administration has been hacking funding and attacking top universities over the past year.
The announcement in full is here.
