Why the UK is returning to Horizon Europe

The long awaited return

The UK has agreed to rejoin the European Union's £85 billion ($120 billion) science research funding programme, EU Horizon, following a call between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday evening.

The UK will also rejoin the EU's Copernicus Earth Observation Satellite Programme, which has been crucial in monitoring weather events this summer, including wildfires across Europe, according to a Downing Street statement.

Britain's re-entry into the Horizon Europe programme is seen as a political victory for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Photo: WSJ

The EU has also agreed to the UK's proposal not to rejoin the Euratom Programme (a supplementary funding programme to Horizon Europe, which covers nuclear research and innovation). Instead, the UK will pursue a domestic fusion energy strategy.

For its part, the European Commission (EC) said: “Today’s agreement remains fully consistent with the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The UK will be required to make financial contributions to the EU budget and will be subject to all the safeguards of the TCA.”

The UK will contribute an average of £2.6bn a year to Horizon Europe and Copernicus, starting in January 2024. Downing Street said this would also “provide space to promote the engagement of UK researchers to conduct funding calls before we start paying into the programme”.

Joy for the scientific community

The agreement to bring the UK back into Horizon Europe has been welcomed by the UK scientific community, which has benefited greatly from the funding. Prime Minister Sunak also said on Thursday that British scientists could start applying for EU Horizon funding.

“We have worked with our EU partners to ensure that this is the right deal for the UK, opening up fantastic research opportunities and also the right deal for the UK taxpayer,” Mr Sunak added.

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge, (the UK's national academy of sciences, often referred to simply as the Royal Society), described the announcement as “fantastic news not just for the UK but for scientists across the EU and for all Europeans”.

“There will be a huge relief in the research community that the uncertainty of the last two and a half years has ended,” said Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest cancer research organisation based in London.

“Nearly three-quarters of cancer researchers who responded to our survey said EU funding was important to their work. This shows how important the return to Horizon Europe is for the future of cancer research,” added Michelle Mitchell.

Since Britain left Horizon Europe, the government has approved more than 2,000 grants worth £1.05 billion to help researchers stay funded, according to figures from the Wall Street Journal. And that funding expires this month.

Signs of thawing

The UK’s return to EU science programmes could be seen as a sign of healing after Brexit, which saw the UK leave the bloc in 2020. At that time, with the UK’s “divorce” from the EU, the country was also excluded from the Horizon Europe programme for three years.

The UK was originally scheduled to return to the programme in February 2023, when the Windsor Framework was agreed, but negotiations on the exact financial terms have dragged on, leading to a period of pessimism among the UK scientific community about Horizon Europe.

Before Brexit, the UK was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Horizon Europe. Photo: Guardian

But now the ice has thawed, with Europe also welcoming Britain back. “The EU and the UK are important strategic partners and allies, and today’s agreement proves that,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We will continue to be at the forefront of global research and science.”

Natalie Loiseau, a French MEP and one of the leaders of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Council, also expressed optimism after the event. Speaking to The Guardian, Loiseau said the agreement was a sign of “a restored atmosphere of trust”.

Political analysts say Britain's re-entry into Horizon is a political victory for Prime Minister Sunak, who has tried to improve the UK's relationship with Europe without causing any major opposition within his Conservative Party.

The efforts to improve the situation come as a large portion of the British public is regretting their decision to leave the EU, as they grapple with high inflation and the prospect of years of low growth. A YouGov poll in June found that if the Brexit referendum had been held last week, 55% of Britons would have voted to remain in the bloc.

However, despite all the Brexit regrets, the chances of the UK rejoining the EU anytime soon are slim, according to analysts. Instead, the focus is on making Brexit work as well as possible and limiting the economic damage from trade barriers with the UK’s main trading partner.

Nguyen Khanh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/vuong-quoc-anh-tro-lai-chuong-trinh-khoa-hoc-horizon-europe-dau-hieu-han-gan-sau-brexit-post264011.html