The EU has blocked British scientists from joining the € 95 billion Horizon Europe research program – the world’s largest – over the Brexit trade dispute in Northern Ireland.
Joao Valle de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said British scientists would be “concomitantly damaged” in the Horizon dispute over the country’s position, increasingly at risk of becoming a “victim of political stalemate”. He added: “It’s a pity.”
The UK’s associate membership of Horizon was provided for in the Brexit agreement of 2020, but was delayed due to long-standing differences between London and the bloc over Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is preparing legislation to clear the way for the rejection of parts of the protocol governing trade between the region and mainland Britain.
The confrontation has alarmed UK university leaders, who wrote to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking him to “intervene personally to get out of the impasse” before it was too late.
In a letter seen from the Financial Times, Russell Group, representing 24 of the UK’s most intensive universities, said Horizon’s involvement was vital to Johnson’s goal of making Britain a “scientific superpower”.
A letter from Tim Bradshaw, CEO, said the Russell Group’s universities alone had won more than 1,400 grants from the European Research Council worth € 1.8 billion, which he said was “more than all of France”.
Speaking to reporters in Westminster, Vale de Almeida acknowledged that British scientists had worked with their EU counterparts to play a key role in Horizon, and wanted that to continue.
Joao Valle de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said British scientists would be “concomitant” in the UK-EU dispute © Charlie Bibby / FT
But he said the “lack of trust” between the EU and the Johnson government – exacerbated by Britain’s plan to unilaterally rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – had a “negative impact on other areas”.
Kwasi Quarteng, business secretary, has prepared an alternative plan to spend £ 6 billion over three years on a new global science fund if the EU refuses to allow the UK to participate in Horizon. University leaders believe the Quarteng could activate its plan as early as next month.
In a letter to British scientists this week, Quarteng insisted that the dispute with the EU over Northern Ireland and the UK’s involvement in Horizon were “entirely separate issues and contained in a different agreement”. He added: “We are disappointed that the EU is politicizing cooperation in science and research.”
But the Russell group warned Johnson that granting the UK associate membership in Horizon was an “integral part” of making the country a science. He called the program the Champions League for Research.
Separately, Bradshaw wrote to Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner for Discussions with Britain on the Northern Ireland Protocol, to ask him to intervene. “The UK’s full association with Horizon is at risk,” he said.
“We are concerned that much of the hard work previously done will be lost as the UK government prepares its own plans for alternative schemes, a result that will worsen the situation for both the UK and the EU.
Vale de Almeida reiterated his warning that the EU would not agree to renegotiate the NI protocol, part of Johnson’s Brexit deal in 2019, but said it could be implemented more flexibly.
But he warned that Britain’s threat to pass unilateral legislation to repeal parts of the protocol would make matters worse. “I am concerned about the low levels of trust that exist between the EU and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Add Comment