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Britain has reached a deal to rejoin the European Union’s Horizon research program, according to officials in London and Brussels, a move welcomed by European academia and business.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to confirm on Thursday that Britain will become an associate member of the 95.5 billion euro plan, capping months of tense negotiations.
Horizon is the world’s largest multilateral research initiative, bringing together companies and scientists from more than 40 countries to explore areas from climate change to cancer to artificial intelligence.
Sunak, who personally oversaw the details of the deal, told aides he was skeptical that Horizon would offer Britain value for money. The deal will mark a further deepening of Britain’s relationship with the EU after Brexit.
“Our priority and preference is to connect with the horizon,” Sunak told MPs on Wednesday. “But we want to make sure that this provision is suitable for UK taxpayers as well as for UK scientific research.”
Sunak’s allies say the Horizon deal builds on improved relations between London and Brussels, following February’s Windsor deal that ended a bitter impasse over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade rules.
“It’s part of the reset,” one person said. “It also shows what can be achieved with hard work.” Downing Street declined to comment.
The UK negotiated “associate membership” of the Horizon project as part of the 2020 trade and cooperation agreement, but was blocked from joining due to a protracted dispute over the so-called Northern Ireland agreement.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the group had told ministers that joining Horizon would attract investment and deepen international cooperation in science, research and higher education.
He added: “If the UK’s associate membership agreement is confirmed, it will provide much-needed certainty and kick-start new research opportunities in key areas of strength for the UK economy, such as life sciences.”
Earlier this year, initial optimism that a deal between the two countries could be reached quickly was shattered by a dispute over how Britain’s financial contribution to the seven-year plan should be adjusted to take into account the two years during which Britain was excluded.
The Treasury said it would not rejoin Horizon unless the UK received a “fair value for money”, given its £2bn annual contribution.
Negotiations have partly centered on a financial “correction mechanism” that determines what happens if Britain gets less value out of the scheme than it pays for it.
It has also been reported that since the UK struck its own deal on Horizon during negotiations on a 2020 Brexit trade deal, other countries – including wealthy nations such as Israel and Turkey – have secured better terms from the European Commission.
As an EU member state, the UK often receives more revenue from Horizon projects than it contributes due to the strength of its universities in terms of funding, but as an associate member state this is excluded.
“It’s really important that science collaborates in an efficient way,” says Martin Smith, director of policy at the philanthropic Wellcome Trust. “The Horizon Europe deal will mean the UK can regain its rightful place as part of the global effort to solve the great scientific challenges of our time.”
EU academics also welcomed the move. Arancha González, dean of Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs, said: “This is good news for researchers on both sides of the Channel, who will be able to work at a time when research is key to European competitiveness. work together.”
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