UK’s return to EU Horizon scheme expected to be confirmed within days

London: The UK’s long-anticipated return to the EU’s £80bn science research programme Horizon Europe is on the brink of being confirmed, possibly as early as Thursday.

Membership of Horizon Europe was agreed as part of the wider post-Brexit trade deal in December 2020 but was never ratified because of a tit-for-tat row between the EU and the UK over Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements.

A senior EU source said the return to the programme, three years into a seven-year funding cycle, was discussed by the college of commissioners this week, with a deal expected to be unveiled in the coming days.

The way for the UK’s return to Horizon Europe was cleared as far back as March after London and Brussels resolved their dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol, with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, promising a “swift” decision.

But stop-start talks over the following months were marred by demands by the UK for extra discounts to take account of the absent years, much to the fury of the science community, who did not fully support Sunak’s plan B to go it alone.

On Wednesday Sunak gave his strongest hint yet that a deal had been sealed, saying he had given the go-ahead for his officials to finalise a deal.

Before Brexit the UK was one of the top beneficiaries of the Horizon programme and scientists are still eligible to apply for funding, which is underwritten by the UK government.

However, the uncertainty over the UK’s membership and its inability to lead pan-EU research while outside the programme has dealt a blow.

Data from the European Commission shows a huge drop in awards to British science programmes since 2019. In that year, €959.3m (£828.8m) went to the UK in 1,364 grants, compared with €22.18m in 192 grants in 2023 to date.

According to sources in the science community, the UK wanted the discount and to exit the parallel Euratom programme, which the EU rejected.