Lord Frost gives update on UK’s participation in Horizon Europe
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Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the bloc banned it from joining Horizon Europe, an £80billion research programme that granted funding from scientists across Europe. The EU and the UK had successfully negotiated Britain’s entry into the programme, where it was supposed to contribute £15billion over a seven-year period towards Horizon Europe so British scientists could access EU grants and collaborate with European researchers.
However, the bloc later told the UK it cannot take part until it resolves the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Speaking at FT’s Investing in Space summit, UK Science Minister George Freeman skewered the EU Commission for holding entry to Horizon Europe as leverage during Brexit negotiations.
He said: “I couldn’t be clearer yesterday but also over the last six months, we in this country voted to leave the uropean monetary and political union.
“We didn’t vote, and my constituents have told me this, we absolutely didn’t want to leave the European science, cultural, artistic, defence and security network at all.
“We were very clear in the negotiations and negotiated for the membership of Horizon, Copernicus, and Euratom.”
On Wednesday, Mr Freeman went to Brussels to make a last-ditch effort to negotiate the UK’s entry into the programme.
He added: “You don’t need me to tell you that what’s going on is that EU Commission, as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol debate, and there is a mechanism in the NI protocol for dispute resolution.
“There is no mechanism for using Horizon, Euratom and Copernicus as negotiating tools.
“But that’s politics, and my argument yesterday and my plea in Brussels, which were echoed by a large number of scientists, 13 Nobel prize winners from all across Europe saying ‘Look if you have to punish the Brits, don’t do it like this.’
“Because it undermines European science. It will undermine European technology and innovation.”
While Mr Freeman has insisted that he would like the UK to join the Horizon Programme, he highlighted that if needed, the UK is ready to go it alone.
This programme, he explained, would be funded using the £15billion presently ring-fenced for the UK’s contribution to Horizon Europe.
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He said: “We’ve got the budget, just like with Horizon we’ve got the money that we would have put in.
“We’ve got countries in Europe, bilaterally with Norway, Sweden and Germany and Switzerland who all want to work with us.
“Just because we’re out of Copernicus, we’re still in the European Space agency, we’re still here, and there are a lot of countries who want to work with us and we’ve got a huge amount of expertise.”
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