Lord Frost gives update on UK’s participation in Horizon Europe
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British aerospace company Orbex, which has just begun the construction of a new launchpad for low-orbit satellites in Scotland, receive funds from Horizon Europe early on. This helped them to start work on Britain’s first orbital space launchpad in half a century.
But now that Britain’s formal association from the £80billion Horizon Europe project was suspended, it is unlikely that Orbex will receive any more European funds.
Orbex CEO Chris Larmour told Express.co.uk: “Nobody is very happy about it.
“We are unlikely to get any more [funding] from Europe.
“Even though the UK is paying into Horizon Europe, we as a company are unlikely to get anything out of it.
“In fact, there is a €10million prize that is going to be awarded shortly, we are not even being considered because we are in the UK.
“We would probably have been a good company to win that but it is going to go to Germany no instead. 100 percent I am sure of that.”
Britain remained part of the project as part of the withdrawal agreement from the EU.
But its formal association has been temporarily suspended until it resolves post-Brexit disputes including the Northern Ireland protocol issue and fishing licenses row.
And with EU-UK relations reaching a stalemate as neither Brexit Minister Lord Frost nor European Vice President Maros Sefcovic has agreed on compromises, there are also fears that Article 16 could be triggered.
Lord Frost, who said that this is “very much on the table”, was warned by Mr Sefcovic that this would have “serious consequences”.
In fact, it could even mean that Britain would be permanently excluded from Horizon Europe if it is triggered.
And large swathes of the science community are also worried that Britain’s exclusion could cause harm to British science.
Earlier this month, scores of health companies signed a document put forward by the European Health Stakeholder Group demanding that the EU takes swift action to lift the ban on the UK’s formal association status.
The document read: “We have all reaped the mutual health benefits of these collaborations.
“Together, we have significantly advanced health care across Europe, saving and improving citizens’ lives.
“Clinical trials, particularly on diseases with limited patient populations, have been heavily reliant on EU-UK collaboration, while close research and innovation partnerships continue to accelerate life-changing medical research.
“Going forward, we must continue to work together in order to meet the challenges of our swiftly changing world.
“We stand with our colleagues in the EU’s research and innovation community in urging the European Commission to formalise the UK’s association to Horizon Europe without further delay.”
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And last month, 25 groups representing Europe’s academic and research sector wrote to the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, also demanding to put an end to the delay in the UK’s participation.
The letter said: “We are rapidly approaching a crunch point. With the first Horizon Europe grant agreements approaching and new calls soon to be launched, UK association must be finalised without further delay.”
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