After a two-year absence, British researchers will be able to participate again in European scientific projects from January 1. The European Commission and the Government of the United Kingdom announced yesterday an agreement for the reintegration of the country in the Horizon and Copernicus programs, abandoned by British researchers following Brexit.
Negotiations have dragged on for two years due to disagreements over economic terms, but after overcoming the last hurdles, both sides yesterday celebrated the decision as a boost to their bilateral relations. "The European Union and the United Kingdom are strategic partners and allies and this agreement proves it. We will continue to be at the global forefront of science and research", assured in a statement the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
"Joining Horizon Europe will further strengthen and deepen the links between the UK and EU scientific communities, encourage innovation and enable researchers to work together on common challenges such as climate and health," he said. , on the other hand, the office of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, architect of a remarkable improvement in bilateral relations with the EU which already resulted, in March, in the signing of an agreement on the fitting of Northern Ireland in Brexit.
A return to European science programs was a strong demand in London from British researchers, frustrated that, although the possibility was included in the EU exit agreement reached in 2020, disagreements over the situation in this territory they slowed down the tasks to develop a regulatory framework that would make it a reality.
Specifically, the agreement announced early yesterday foresees that British scientists can participate in Horizon Europe from 2024. Endowed with 95.5 billion euros for the period 2021-2027, the research program is considered largest multilateral in the world and more than 40 countries participate through their scientists and companies. Sunak led a tough negotiation on the project association fees he will have to pay to participate and has finally managed not to have to contribute to the programs from which he has been excluded since 2021.
London will also once again be part of Copernicus, the ambitious Earth observation programme, based fundamentally on the data collected by the Sentinel satellites. The British Government is full of praise for the level of this technology and welcomes the fact that its scientists can participate in this "crucial moment" of the project, which will be even more oriented towards trying to understand and manage climate-related phenomena.
Brussels estimates that London will pay around 2.6 billion euros a year, on average, to participate in Horizon Europe and Copernicus. The agreement, which must now be ratified by the EU member states, includes a clause that ensures that, in the event that British universities receive less funding than the Government has contributed, the EU will give them financial compensation. "The entire community of researchers at our universities will be delighted to know that an agreement has been reached", celebrated in a statement Universities UK, the body that represents these educational institutions that have put strong pressure on the Government to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Their goal now is to return to the leadership positions they once held in many programs.
London also considered re-participating in the Euratom program, but ultimately ruled it out. The official explanation is that London has decided to go its own way and develop its own nuclear fusion energy strategy for which it has already announced an injection of £650m by 2027. Brussels' version is slightly different: the UK has taken the decision after finding, through its own assessment, that the impact of the UK's absence from the Euratom and F4E/ITER programs “could not be reversed”. In other words, there was no way to make up for lost time.
