UK rejoins Horizon EU research programme
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The UK is to rejoin the Horizon Europe and Copernicus research programmes under a tweaked deal with the European Commission.
The new Horizon Europe agreement covers scientific and space collaboration between the EU and the UK following the Windsor Framework earlier this year, but does not include rejoining the Euratom nuclear research programme. Instead the UK has funded a domestic fusion research programme with £650m to 2027.
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The EU will assess UK participants’ access to strategic parts of the Horizon Europe programme on equal terms with other associated countries. UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme on the same terms as researchers from other associated countries, including leading consortia, from the 2024 Work Programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year.
For calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, the European Commission will continue to administer transitional arrangements and the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee.
The association of the UK to Copernicus will enable the UK’s access to a state-of-the art capacity to monitor the Earth and to its services. The UK will also have access to EU Space Surveillance and Tracking services. This will also allow UK companies in the growing space sector to bid for contracts, which they haven’t been able to access for the last three years.
From today, UK researchers can apply for grants and bid to take part in projects under the Horizon programme, with certainty that the UK will be participating as a fully associated member for the remaining life of the programme to 2027.
Once adopted, the UK will also be able to join the governance of EU programmes – which the UK has been excluded from over the last three years – to shape collaboration taking place next year.
The Commission and the UK Government are now working on the legal instruments to be adopted by the Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes subject to prior approval by the Council of the European Union.
Access to Horizon has been a major issue for UK researchers, and rejoining will also open up cooperation with Norway, New Zealand and Israel which are part of the programme and countries such as Korea and Canada that re looking to join.
The long-awaited decision follows a call between the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Wednesday 6th September.
The situation mirrors the indefinite suspension of the UK’s Certification programme as an alternative to the CE mark.
“Horizon Europe has been the basis of scientific collaboration for over 30 years. From early detection of ovarian cancer to developing clean energy networks involving dozens of universities and many industrial partners, Horizon lets us do things that would not be possible without that scale of collaboration,” said Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, president of Universities UK.
“UKspace welcomes the news that the UK is reassociating with the EU Copernicus and Horizon Programmes. We have a strong track record within Copernicus with UK industry securing valuable contracts that have delivered jobs and growth across the country whilst unlocking a better understanding of our planet,” said John Hanley, Chair of the UKspace trade body.
“We look forward to working with the Government to capitalise quickly on this agreement and identify the actions needed to build upon the UK’s national Earth Observation initiatives to ensure that industry can once more take a leading role in the largest multi-lateral EO Programme in the world.”
“It is great news that the U.K. will be rejoining Horizon Europe, which is a key funding programme for research and innovation, as well as the Copernicus programme. Having provided many of Copernicus’ critical technologies from the U.K., as well as designing and building the Sentinel 5P satellite in Stevenage, we look forward to contributing to future Copernicus Earth observation missions which play such a key role in understanding and tackling the planet’s changing climate,” said John Harrison, Chairman of Airbus UK.
“We have listened to the sector, and through hard work and negotiation we have secured an excellent deal for researchers, taxpayers and businesses,” said UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan. “This deal is a crucial step forward on our mission to become a science and tech superpower by 2030.”
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