21/07/2026
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?
This was the key question discussed at the Informal EU Ministerial Meeting on Competitiveness in Research and Innovation, held under the Irish Presidency in Dublin on 21 July 2026. State Secretary Martina Hirayama represented Switzerland at the meeting. Discussions focused on creating a European Knowledge, Research and Innovation Market and on translating scientific excellence more effectively into innovation and competitiveness.
Switzerland highlighted the importance of open, excellence-based research and innovation systems. Enabling framework conditions, talent development and close collaboration between academia, industry and the public sector are key to fostering innovation and competitiveness. State Secretary Hirayama also underlined that the diversity of Europe's research and innovation ecosystems is a strength that should be leveraged through closer cooperation.
Referring to the European Knowledge Market, she highlighted the importance of open and interoperable research and data infrastructures. As an example, she mentioned —the open large language model developed by ETH Zurich, EPFL and CSCS—which demonstrates how excellent research, cutting-edge infrastructures and international collaboration can contribute to strategically important technologies.
On the margins of the meeting, State Secretary Hirayama also held bilateral exchanges with European partners on the future of cooperation within the European Research Area.
To the press release: https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/en/newnsb/QxuM-pHDRj6ZVdmDJ60wI?fbclid=IwY2xjawTMZuxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETAwYU1QU3lKeXFyNTc5a2pac3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHkaFo8iyHXM2A09vevUfcuUnzxPMwH1sQmBZYLqoF4EX5y0Ws72y-4seYdi2_aem_3dTp_MfYDBvmNNxmoR34Fw
More information on Apertus: https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/09/press-release-apertus-a-fully-open-transparent-multilingual-language-model.html
