Switzerland and EU sign European programmes agreement
21/11/2025
Swiss education and training stakeholders are one important step closer to being eligible as full consortia members for Erasmus+ calls: On 10 November 2025, the Swiss government and the European Commission signed the EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA) in Bern. This event marked the end of negotiations between Switzerland and the EU, which had commenced back in March 2024. The signature is therefore an important step towards Swiss association to the Erasmus+ programme and allows for the immediate provisional association to several other EU funding programmes, including Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme.
The EUPA signature gives Swiss researchers the green light to apply to Horizon Europe (retroactively from 01 January 2025) and allows Switzerland to associate to Erasmus+ by 2027. Two important milestones must still be completed before the Erasmus+ association can be finalised: First, the Swiss parliament will have to approve the funds necessary to finance Swiss participation in the programme, as third countries pay a contribution to gain programme access. Second, the Swiss national agency for the promotion of exchange and mobility in education, Movetia, will have to be accredited by the European Commission as the National Agency for Erasmus+. As Switzerland is not an EU member state, its association to the programmes as a third country will ultimately require ratification of the agreement by the European Parliament.
For Swiss educators, trainers and learners, joining Erasmus+ for the first time since 2014 would unlock new opportunities for European collaboration and intercultural exchange. Under the current annual work programme, participation opportunities for Swiss organisations and individuals are severely limited: In cooperation partnerships, Swiss participants are mostly confined to ‘associated partners’, which requires the parallel acquisition of additional Swiss funding and offers limited possibilities for leadership within consortia. Many actions, particularly pilots and newly developed programme formats, such as Erasmus+ Teacher Academies, are entirely closed off to Swiss participation.
In the meantime, Switzerland is providing funding through its own programme, the ‘Swiss solution’, which enables international partnerships and mobility in Europe and beyond. This allows the Swiss education and training sector to retain and grow its international network, strengthen exchange capacity and actively participate in cross-border best practice sharing. Movetia, responsible for implementing the Swiss solution, is also an earlall member and ensures through such commitments that Swiss trainers and learners remain part of the conversation around international VET exchange and collaboration.
Author: Sandra Gillner, SwissCore
