The UK on Wednesday (17 August) launched dispute proceedings against the EU over the long running stalemate that has kept UK universities and researchers shut out of the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme two years after agreeing participation as part of the Brexit agreement.
The process under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and UK gives the Commission until mid-September to respond to the UK’s complaint. A Commission spokesperson on Wednesday said that the institution had ‘taken note’ of the UK’s request.
The move does not come as a complete surprise. In June, Science Minister George Freeman warned that the UK was ready to walk away following meetings with European Commission officials.
The terms of the UK’s exit agreement with the EU allow it to participate in the Horizon Europe research fund and the Copernicus earth and space observation programme, in return for a contribution to the programme’s funding.
However, although both sides, and the European research community, believe that cooperation would be mutually beneficial, the European Commission has stated that the UK’s status in the Horizon and Copernicus programmes will not be confirmed until the long-running impasse over the Northern Ireland protocol is resolved. However, there is little prospect of that with UK Foreign Secretary and now Conservative party leadership hopeful Liz Truss having tabled legislation to unilaterally override the protocol. The bill is currently making its way through the UK parliament.
UK officials reject the idea that access to the research programme should be tied to the fate of the protocol and complain that the EU executive has repeatedly refused to engage in negotiations on the issue.
They believe that the Commission thought that equating the two matters would give them more leverage over the negotiations aimed at improving the implementation of the protocol.
Should the UK and EU fail to reach agreement on access, UK ministers say that they will set up their own international partnership programme and say that scientific partners from smaller EU countries will suffer the most from not being able to collaborate with UK universities and scientists.
The UK contribution to the €95.5 billion seven year programm would have been €15 billion. The UK government has said that it will withhold payment for 2021 and 2022 since it has not been allowed to be part of Horizon programmes.
Switzerland, meanwhile, has also been blocked from joining EU programmes.
The timing of the UK government’s announcement in the middle of the Conservative party leadership race is curious, since Truss, the heavy favourite to win the contest to succeed Boris Johnson, is the minister responsible for EU-UK relations, and could benefit politically from again taking a tough stance with the EU. However, UK officials insist that the timing is not linked.
Source: euractiv.com
