UK and EU research leaders urge negotiators to compromise on Horizon Europe agreement

Last updated on Tuesday 20 Dec 2022 at 10:25pm

In a joint statement published today, over 100 organisations and individuals representing the research community across the UK and Europe have set out how negotiators could secure an agreement on UK participation in the EU’s major research framework programme.

As negotiators continue the fifth round of discussions on the post-Brexit EU-UK relationship this week, the statement sets out a series of compromises that both sides could make to tackle disagreements over the terms of the UK’s association to the Horizon Europe programme.

Signatories reflect the research sector in the UK and Europe, and include Universities UK, the Wellcome Trust, the European University Association, the Russell Group and the European Society for Paediatric Oncology. The list of individuals also includes Carlos Moedas, former European Commissioner for Research, Science & Innovation, Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the WTO, and Sir Paul Nurse, FRS Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine 2001.

Participation in EU Funding Programmes has been discussed frequently as part of the post- Brexit negotiations. Ensuring that countries beyond the EU – including the UK – can join the Horizon Europe programme will help researchers to tackle shared challenges, such as cancer and climate change. It would also reflect the EU’s ambition of making Horizon Europe ‘open to the world’.

However, there has been too little progress towards an agreement. The joint statement offers a set of solutions to known sticking points in the discussions, including on:

Demonstrating UK commitment to the programme
Ensuring a fair financial contribution through a ‘two-way’ correction mechanism
Accepting EU oversight of the use of programme funds
Agreeing to introduce reciprocal mobility arrangements to support the programme
Clarifying that the results of research can be exploited beyond the EU

The statement argues that, with enough will on both sides, it should be possible to reach an agreement before the Horizon Europe programme is due to begin in January — but time is rapidly running out.

The UK and EU research community is now counting on negotiators to find a way forward in the coming weeks, for the benefit that research brings to citizens across the globe.

Notes

The joint statement can be found in full on the Wellcome website: https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/reaching-agreement-uk-participation- horizon-europe.pdf
For further information, please contact Beth Thompson, Head of UK/EU Policy, Wellcome [email protected]

UK and EU research leaders urge negotiators to compromise on Horizon Europe agreement

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