The European Commission has reversed the default rule for Chinese participation in EU-funded research: under the 2026-2027 Horizon Europe work programme, entities established in China are now excluded by default from three of six thematic clusters unless a call explicitly reopens access, according to Research Professional News and Sintra Advisory.

The mechanism is Article 22(6) of the Horizon Europe Regulation, applied through the programme's General Annexes and adopted by the Commission as Decision C(2025) 8493 on 11 December 2025, per Sintra Advisory. It covers €14 billion in 2026-2027 funding and binds every applicant across all 27 member states.

Closed by default: Cluster 1 (health), Cluster 3 (civil security and society) and Cluster 4 (digital, industry and space), which cover artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology and biotechnology, per Sintra Advisory. Still open: culture and inclusive society, climate/energy/mobility, and natural resources/agriculture, plus two flagship climate and food-systems projects, per CEIAS. China's "Seven Sons of National Defence" universities, linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, are barred outright.

  • You coordinate a Horizon consortium: check no partner is China-established before submitting to a restricted cluster, or the bid becomes ineligible.
  • Your EU-based institution has Chinese shareholders: expect scrutiny under the "directly or indirectly controlled by China" rule — the Annexes set no ownership threshold.
  • You hold an existing Sino-EU grant: agreements signed before adoption remain valid; the restriction is not retroactive, per Sintra Advisory.

The reversal extends a longer arc: Commission President von der Leyen's 2023 "de-risking" speech, Flanders' 2024 ban on the Seven Sons, and the Free University of Brussels' 2025 suspension of its Beihang partnership, per Sintra Advisory.

Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva previewed the measures at an October 2025 research-security conference, per Sintra Advisory. The European Research Area Act, expected in the second half of 2026, would make such screening legally binding across EU funding — and could finally define what "Chinese-controlled" means, a term the current Annexes leave undefined. Hypothesis: the opt-in template could migrate to other Commission-run funds, such as Digital Europe or the European Innovation Council, once the ERA Act sets a Union-wide baseline. Supporting this: Brussels already screens for Chinese ownership in chip and connectivity funding. Against it: Horizon's six-cluster structure has no direct equivalent in single-purpose programmes.