Iceland and Norway on Friday signed up to join the Horizon 2020, becoming the first non-EU countries to associate to EU's seven-year research and innovation program.

The decision, taken at a meeting of the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Committee, allows these two countries' researchers and companies to participate on the same basis as their counterparts in the EU, the EU statement said.

In return, the two countries will contribute financially to Horizon 2020, launched in January with a budget of nearly 80 billion euros (around 111 billion U.S. dollars) over seven years (from 2014 to 2020).

"Science is global, as are the many challenges we face that we can only solve through research and innovation. This is why we have to work together, and why we hope to associate many more countries to Horizon 2020," said Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

These two countries will bring to Horizon 2020 an excellent science base and clear strengths in specific fields, according to the statement.

Norwegian scientists are addressing global challenges in areas such as the environment, climate change, oceans, food safety and energy research.

Iceland has unique knowledge about geothermal energy production and its research capacities on climate change and marine biodiversity will also benefit Europe, the statement said.