It’s a bit silly to say ‘leave politics out of it’ when you are asking for access to €100billion. Yes CH/UK contribute but Horizon is still a strategic cooperation and investment tool where participants expect to benefit (i.e. derive more economic value than the cash they bring). CH can’t walk away from bilateral talks and expect to still have free access to all the good stuff. Plus, as an EU scientist in Switzerland I’d rather see the institutions support broad partnership including on things like migration and rights (which are also a big deal for internationally mobile scientists) rather than narrowly focusing on their own funding.
Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of our actions.
Switzerland screwed it up right here and so did the UK.
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One should support scientific progress without advancing their own political agenda. And one *can* as we already have proven in the past. CERN was a Horizon of its time in physics and remained the leading organization for decades without bringing any political power play.
Tying scientific collaboration with political demands is essentially the same as force bundling landline phone into your internet subscription, mixing life insurance into your pillar 3a, or installing IE as a browser into your OS. Same as using your monopolistic position in search or mobile OS to advance your applications, services, and ads. Only all of these were deemed wrong and/or illegal, but when the EU does it with Horizon it’s somehow Switzerland’s fault.
Sooo… They expect to refuse every bilateral AND remain close partners with the EU?
> The Stick to Science initiative has been set up by the European research community calling for open and barrier-free collaboration among Europe’s research and innovation (R&I) actors, who all share the same values. The initiative is an active response to the delayed progression of association agreements with Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK), which are being held up by political barriers that have nothing to do with science.
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> The signatories request that the European Council, Parliament, Commission, as well as European Union (EU) Member States, and the governments of the UK and Switzerland, recognise that advancement in R&I is best achieved when all actors in science and innovation work together across geographic boundaries. This has never been more important than now, as the world faces serious global challenges (e.g., mitigating pandemics, climate change, and addressing food security). Allowing political differences to prevent scientific collaboration is contrary to the interests of society at large.
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> The signatories urge the EU, the UK and Switzerland to rapidly reach association agreements so that the two countries can contribute scientifically and financially to the strength of Horizon Europe and to a truly open, inclusive and excellence-driven European Research Area.
“Hi, we would like to have all the cool things without any of the things we don’t like. And could you say please?”
9 comments
It’s a bit silly to say ‘leave politics out of it’ when you are asking for access to €100billion. Yes CH/UK contribute but Horizon is still a strategic cooperation and investment tool where participants expect to benefit (i.e. derive more economic value than the cash they bring). CH can’t walk away from bilateral talks and expect to still have free access to all the good stuff. Plus, as an EU scientist in Switzerland I’d rather see the institutions support broad partnership including on things like migration and rights (which are also a big deal for internationally mobile scientists) rather than narrowly focusing on their own funding.
Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of our actions.
Switzerland screwed it up right here and so did the UK.
[deleted]
One should support scientific progress without advancing their own political agenda. And one *can* as we already have proven in the past. CERN was a Horizon of its time in physics and remained the leading organization for decades without bringing any political power play.
Tying scientific collaboration with political demands is essentially the same as force bundling landline phone into your internet subscription, mixing life insurance into your pillar 3a, or installing IE as a browser into your OS. Same as using your monopolistic position in search or mobile OS to advance your applications, services, and ads. Only all of these were deemed wrong and/or illegal, but when the EU does it with Horizon it’s somehow Switzerland’s fault.
Sooo… They expect to refuse every bilateral AND remain close partners with the EU?
Still reposting the idiot’s newsbot?
[Link to the website and petition](https://stick-to-science.eu/)
>
> The Stick to Science initiative has been set up by the European research community calling for open and barrier-free collaboration among Europe’s research and innovation (R&I) actors, who all share the same values. The initiative is an active response to the delayed progression of association agreements with Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK), which are being held up by political barriers that have nothing to do with science.
>
> The signatories request that the European Council, Parliament, Commission, as well as European Union (EU) Member States, and the governments of the UK and Switzerland, recognise that advancement in R&I is best achieved when all actors in science and innovation work together across geographic boundaries. This has never been more important than now, as the world faces serious global challenges (e.g., mitigating pandemics, climate change, and addressing food security). Allowing political differences to prevent scientific collaboration is contrary to the interests of society at large.
>
> The signatories urge the EU, the UK and Switzerland to rapidly reach association agreements so that the two countries can contribute scientifically and financially to the strength of Horizon Europe and to a truly open, inclusive and excellence-driven European Research Area.
“Hi, we would like to have all the cool things without any of the things we don’t like. And could you say please?”