EU-UK agreement allows latter to participate in Horizon Europe

The EU and UK have reached a landmark agreement in principle under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, aimed at further strengthening and deepening links between the two scientific communities, fostering innovation and enabling researchers to work together on global challenges from climate to health.

In a joint statement on 7 September, the European Commission and UK Government said they have concluded negotiations and reached an agreement in principle on the association of the UK to Horizon Europe and Copernicus under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

This is a landmark moment for scientific and space collaboration between the EU and the UK following agreement of the Windsor Framework earlier this year.

“The UK Government and the European Commission look forward to enabling collaboration between their researchers in which the UK and the EU share a mutual interest, such as in new and emerging technologies. To this end, the EU will assess UK participants' access to strategic parts of the Horizon Europe programme on equal terms with other associated countries,” the statement said.

Under the new agreement, UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme on the same terms as researchers from other associated countries, including leading consortia, from the 2024 Work Programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year. For calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, the European Commission will continue to administer transitional arrangements and the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee.

“UK and EU scientists and researchers can have confidence in continuing long-term partnerships with their counterparts,” they said.

The association of the UK to Copernicus will enable the UK's access to a state-of-the art capacity to monitor the Earth and to its services. The UK's association to Copernicus comes at a crucial moment, where the Copernicus space infrastructure and its information services will evolve further and their contribution to understanding and acting on environmental and climate change related challenges is more important than ever.

The UK will also have access to EU Space Surveillance and Tracking services.

“The European Commission and the UK Government will take forward joint outreach and engagement activities designed to encourage the participation of UK entities within both programmes,” the statement said.

In line with the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the European Commission and UK Government have also agreed appropriate terms regarding the UK's financial contribution for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 reflecting the fact that UK researchers did not participate in Horizon Europe or Copernicus from their beginning in 2021.

“Today's agreement in principle marks another step forward for the EU and UK to work together in the spirit of friendly cooperation on issues of shared interest,” it said. “The European Commission and the UK Government intend to make full use of the opportunities provided by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.”

It added that following the announcement, the European Commission and the UK Government will work together with the aim of promptly adopting the necessary legal instruments. These legal instruments need to be adopted by the Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes subject to prior approval by the Council of the European Union.