Lord Frost gives update on UK’s participation in Horizon Europe
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It comes as hundreds of researchers and organisations across Europe have called on the EU to allow the UK to join the research and innovation programme. The ‘Stick to Science’ campaign, launched last week, has warned that keeping the UK out of the programme would amount to “collective punishment”. The bloc had agreed that the UK would remain in Horizon Europe post-Brexit, however it later said that it depended on the Northern Ireland protocol being resolved.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič have reportedly set an unofficial deadline of the end of February to solve the dispute.
Antoine Petit, chair and chief executive of the French state research organisation CNRS, said that excluding UK was “a punishment for all of us. It’s a punishment for Europe … a sadomasochistic decision.”
He added that “fragmenting the scientific community, in the context of larger challenges such as [the] health crisis or global warming does not make sense”.
Lord Kinnoull, the chair of the House of Lords European Affairs Committee, described the situation as “a mutual self-harm problem. And that’s not good for something very precious, which is European scientific research”.
He added: “Last week we had two British academics and a European academic in front of us and there was a great clarity from all of them about how this was harmful to European science.
“Collaborative projects are much more than just a cheque.”
Switzerland is also facing a similar situation.
The European Commission suspended talks with Switzerland after the country pulled out of a broader long-term political agreement to reconfigure bilateral relations.
If the EU continues to play hardball, the UK has vowed to go at it alone with a “bold Plan B”.
Science Minister George Freeman announced that Britain is hoping to partner with “science and innovation powerhouse” Switzerland as part of his £6billion backup plan.
Mr Freeman plans for the UK to work with other allies as well, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, as well as Japan.
Speaking to the Science and Technology Committee, Mr Freeman even agreed that universities in the US, Australia and Asia are of “better quality” than our European partners.
But Mr Freeman, who voted Remain in the EU Referendum, has not ruled out the possibility of joining Horizon Europe.
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The Stick to Science campaign calls for an “open and collaborative research and innovation landscape” free from political barriers.
Ludovic Thilly, chair of the executive board at Coimbra Group, said: “We cannot accept any longer that scientific cooperation be held hostage to bilateral politics.”
Martin Smith, head of the policy lab at Wellcome, told Nature: “Association is being held hostage to the bigger political impasse of the Northern Ireland protocol.
“Patience is wearing thin.”
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