High hopes for an announcement of the UK officially rejoining the European Union’s Horizon programme have been dashed after a much-heralded meeting on July 14 between leaders in Vilnius drew a blank.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met briefly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. They had been expected to sign a draft deal for the UK to re-enter the EU’s €95.5bn Horizon research and innovation funding programme on “associate” terms.
Following their short sit-down though, no mention was made of any talks on a new deal, with von der Leyen saying on Twitter: “We discussed the continued commitment and support by the international community to Ukraine.
“More specifically, the new security arrangements in the context of the G7. We also touched upon broader geopolitical challenges, including China, and bilateral issues,” she concluded.
Sunak’s previously stated position was that he would only agree to rejoin Horizon if it could be shown to provide value for money for UK taxpayers and be in the best interests of the country’s science and research sectors.
He earlier said of the negotiations: “Those conversations are ongoing and it is important that we give those conversations the time to conclude. There’s no point in doing something that is not in the interests of British taxpayers or British researchers and scientists.”
The EU previously agreed that the UK could attain associate status of Horizon on discounted terms following the disruption to its involvement in the programme following Brexit. The funding was scheduled to finish in 2027, having begun in 2021.
Prior to the signing of the so-called Windsor Framework in February, which related to medical supplies into Northern Ireland, talks on a UK-EU deal had deteriorated, largely over disagreements around the 2021 Northern Irish protocol, which led to the EC shelving talks on Horizon altogether. The protocol referred to the post-Brexit relationship between the UK, EU and Northern Ireland.
After the Windsor Framework announcement was made, von der Leyen declared she was “happy to start immediately, right now, the work on an association agreement which is the precondition to join Horizon Europe”.
Despite the final terms of UK participation still subject to negotiation, UK bodies have been able to participate in Horizon, although grant agreements will only be signed once the association status measure has come into force.
