For scientists, and for balance....
https://amp.ft.com/content/f362a882-...-4acfcfb08c11?
Brussels has opened the door to the UK’s continued participation in EU-funded science and innovation projects but with safeguards to prevent post-Brexit Britain from getting more money out of the programme than it will pay in entry fees.
The European Commission on Thursday unveiled proposals for the EU’s next R&D programme, which will run for seven years from 2021, after the end of the UK’s post-Brexit transition period.
The €100bn programme, known as Horizon Europe, will be one of the largest funding initiatives in the world for scientific research. The present seven-year programme has a budget of €77bn, of which the UK is contributing about €10bn.
Britain has historically been one of the biggest beneficiaries of EU support in this area, but Brexit has raised fears among the UK’s large scientific community that it could be cut off from European money and co-operation. Theresa May, the UK prime minister, has emphasised that Britain wants “a far-reaching science and innovation pact with the EU, facilitating the exchange of ideas and researchers”.
Carlos Moedas, EU science and research commissioner, echoed this sentiment on Thursday, saying: “It is very important for the UK and it is very important for the EU to have a relationship in science and innovation. We have had that relationship for so long.”
He said the commission’s legal text supporting Horizon Europe was written “in a way that can include the UK as a ‘third country’”. Successive EU R&D programmes have welcomed outside participation, with countries such as Israel and Switzerland paying to become “associated” with the initiatives.
UK-based research leaders responded positively to the announcement from Brussels. “I am delighted to see proposals to increase the budget for the programme and that the draft terms will enable third countries to fully participate in the programme,” said Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences. “Achieving this will be highly beneficial for the UK and the EU, and I remain optimistic and hopeful that this can be realised.”
But Brussels was clear that future participation will come with caveats designed to prevent Britain or other third countries making financial gains from Horizon Europe.
The commission’s legal text includes the idea of an “automatic correction” mechanism that would adjust the size of the entry fees paid by a non-EU country if a “significant imbalance” emerges between what a government pays and what its scientists receive.
The draft text also said that the entry fees should ensure “a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits”. An EU official said that the plans built on a system of periodic reviews of fee levels used in the bloc’s current 2014-20 programme.
The draft law would also give the EU a right to exclude countries from specific parts of the programme if their involvement would risk undermining the core goal of “driving economic growth in [the EU] through innovation”.
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While continued UK participation has been strongly championed by European scientists involved in cross-border research projects, the issue is more sensitive for governments, given the strong record of British researchers in getting EU grants.
According to data published in January by the commission, UK researchers and innovators received 15 per cent of all funding allocated during the first three years of the EU’s 2014-20 programme, second only to Germany in terms of the overall money received.
Mr Moedas said that the overarching conditions for future UK participation would ultimately depend on the outcome of broader Brexit talks between Britain and the EU.
“What we have done is to prepare it [the programme] for a possibility . . . that we can go on this journey and that the UK and EU can have an agreement,” he said.
Sam Gyimah, UK science minister, told the FT that negotiations over how to associate Britain with Horizon Europe were already under way, separately from the main Brexit talks. Issues included the level of influence the UK would have and whether it would take part in the whole programme or just certain components.
The question of future UK involvement in Horizon Europe different from the unresolved spat between Brussels and London over Britain’s participation in the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system, which centres on what security privileges should be given to British companies.
The EU’s R&D programme is one of the biggest public sources of science funding in the world, funding thousands of projects. It is credited with driving major breakthroughs on everything from the discovery in 2017 of seven earthlike planets in a distant solar system to key advances in the search for an Ebola vaccine.
The European Commission on Thursday unveiled proposals for the EU’s next R&D programme, which will run for seven years from 2021, after the end of the UK’s post-Brexit transition period.
The €100bn programme, known as Horizon Europe, will be one of the largest funding initiatives in the world for scientific research. The present seven-year programme has a budget of €77bn, of which the UK is contributing about €10bn.
Britain has historically been one of the biggest beneficiaries of EU support in this area, but Brexit has raised fears among the UK’s large scientific community that it could be cut off from European money and co-operation. Theresa May, the UK prime minister, has emphasised that Britain wants “a far-reaching science and innovation pact with the EU, facilitating the exchange of ideas and researchers”.
Carlos Moedas, EU science and research commissioner, echoed this sentiment on Thursday, saying: “It is very important for the UK and it is very important for the EU to have a relationship in science and innovation. We have had that relationship for so long.”
He said the commission’s legal text supporting Horizon Europe was written “in a way that can include the UK as a ‘third country’”. Successive EU R&D programmes have welcomed outside participation, with countries such as Israel and Switzerland paying to become “associated” with the initiatives.
UK-based research leaders responded positively to the announcement from Brussels. “I am delighted to see proposals to increase the budget for the programme and that the draft terms will enable third countries to fully participate in the programme,” said Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences. “Achieving this will be highly beneficial for the UK and the EU, and I remain optimistic and hopeful that this can be realised.”
But Brussels was clear that future participation will come with caveats designed to prevent Britain or other third countries making financial gains from Horizon Europe.
The commission’s legal text includes the idea of an “automatic correction” mechanism that would adjust the size of the entry fees paid by a non-EU country if a “significant imbalance” emerges between what a government pays and what its scientists receive.
The draft text also said that the entry fees should ensure “a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits”. An EU official said that the plans built on a system of periodic reviews of fee levels used in the bloc’s current 2014-20 programme.
The draft law would also give the EU a right to exclude countries from specific parts of the programme if their involvement would risk undermining the core goal of “driving economic growth in [the EU] through innovation”.
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While continued UK participation has been strongly championed by European scientists involved in cross-border research projects, the issue is more sensitive for governments, given the strong record of British researchers in getting EU grants.
According to data published in January by the commission, UK researchers and innovators received 15 per cent of all funding allocated during the first three years of the EU’s 2014-20 programme, second only to Germany in terms of the overall money received.
Mr Moedas said that the overarching conditions for future UK participation would ultimately depend on the outcome of broader Brexit talks between Britain and the EU.
“What we have done is to prepare it [the programme] for a possibility . . . that we can go on this journey and that the UK and EU can have an agreement,” he said.
Sam Gyimah, UK science minister, told the FT that negotiations over how to associate Britain with Horizon Europe were already under way, separately from the main Brexit talks. Issues included the level of influence the UK would have and whether it would take part in the whole programme or just certain components.
The question of future UK involvement in Horizon Europe different from the unresolved spat between Brussels and London over Britain’s participation in the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system, which centres on what security privileges should be given to British companies.
The EU’s R&D programme is one of the biggest public sources of science funding in the world, funding thousands of projects. It is credited with driving major breakthroughs on everything from the discovery in 2017 of seven earthlike planets in a distant solar system to key advances in the search for an Ebola vaccine.
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