March 29, 2024

The UK offers an alternative system to Horizon Europe – EURACTIV.com

The UK government has launched its own variant of the Horizon Europe R&D programme.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said that the EU has informed the UK government that it “will not have to pay a contribution for the period when it was not involved in the scheme, which is 2021-2022”.

The statement follows a meeting in Brussels between UK Science and Technology Minister Michelle Donnellan and EU Research Commissioner Maria Gabriel earlier this month, where the UK delegation said it wanted to renegotiate its contributions to Horizon to reflect the two external years for the program to be considered. .

The UK’s access to Horizon Europe was part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which governs post-Brexit relations between the EU and the UK. However, British universities and researchers were excluded from the program after the European Commission linked the association status stipulated in the TCA to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Following the signing of the Windsor Framework Agreement between the UK and UNHCR in February, now entered into force by both sides, Commission Chair Ursula von der Leyen said she would work quickly to finalize the UK-Horizon partnership status.

The Commission’s assurances about the UK’s contribution to Horizon should remove one of the main obstacles to opening up access to the research fund.

The European Union also has a great interest in clarifying the position of the United Kingdom.

Although the UK has been one of the main beneficiaries of the EU’s R&D programmes, UK ministers argue that a two-year delay in access to Horizon Universities and Research would have hit hard because many projects are multi-year in nature and have already started without intervention. United kingdom.

See also  The head of Credit Suisse in England moves to a private bank in Zurich

Last week the UK government unveiled its flagship scheme, the National Alternative to Horizon, which is set to receive the same amount of funding from 2021 to 2027 that the government would have paid to connect it to Horizon. This means that the UK will invest around £14.6 billion in this sector.

“The Academy and the wider global research and innovation community have always supported the UK’s engagement with Horizon Europe,” said Sir Jim MacDonald, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.