The Swiss Confederation entered into a cooperation agreement on September 14, 1978 with EURATOM (represented by the European Commission) in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion and of plasma physics. Both parties participate by means of association contracts to the preparation and implementation of the program of the other party and engage in the free mobility of persons between all labs of EURATOM.

Switzerland therefore enjoys the same rights and obligations within the framework of EURATOM as any other country of the European Union. National activities are fully integrated into the European Program.

The Research Center for Plasma Physics (CRPP) is the Swiss Center of Competence for plasma physics and assumes the role of Swiss Associate to the Agreement with Euratom. CRPP is the major Swiss plasma and fusion laboratory. CRPP is a Center in the Faculty of Basic Sciences of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Its staff of over 140 comprises 110 persons on the EPFL site and around 30 at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Würenlingen, Switzerland. Over twenty nationalities are represented in the lab, illustrating the international nature of its field of research. In addition to plasma physics teaching, the missions of CRPP are primarily scientific research in the field of controlled fusion and the development of expertise as well as technology transfer in the field of materials research (plasma coatings).