India will become the next country to join the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, months after signing a landmark trade pact with the bloc, officials confirmed on Wednesday (15 July).
Speaking after a meeting of top trade and technology officials from India and the EU on Wednesday the EU’s research and innovation commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said that Horizon accession talks will be launched on Friday – with a view to being concluded in October so that India can access Horizon from January 2027.
More than 20 countries outside the bloc have access to Horizon EU which, with a budget of €93.5bn over the current 2021-2027 funding period is one of the EU’s most lucrative schemes.
But only a handful (Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, South Korea and Tunisia) are not in Europe – although accession talks with Australia are also ongoing.
EU and Indian leaders concluded a free trade agreement in January, as part of efforts by both Brussels and Delhi to diversify their trade relations.
The trade pact, described by EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen as “the mother of all trade deals” in a Trumpian rhetorical flourish, appears likely to enter into force in early 2027. India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told reporters earlier this week that lawyers for the two sides are expected to finish the legal scrubbing of the trade agreement before the end of July.