Welcome news on UK participation in Horizon Europe
Britest is delighted by today's announcement of political agreement having been reached between the European Commission and the United Kingdom on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe, the EU's research, and innovation programme, along with the Earth observation programme Copernicus.
The mutually agreed solution ends an extended period of significant uncertainty which arose as a byproduct of the broader political repercussions of Brexit. If this had continued, it could only have increased the potential for damage to the UK's position as a world-leading player in collaborative research and innovation, and the loss of valuable UK input to Europe's primary means of tackling global challenges in climate, energy, mobility, digital, industry and space, health, and more.
With agreement reached, the pathway is clear for the UK to formally "associate" to Horizon Europe, enabling innovation-driven organisations like Britest to play a full part in the €95 billion research and innovation Framework Programme through its remaining life to 2027.
Whilst Britest has not let the uncertainty around UK association deflect us from pursuing active participation in Horizon Europe under the interim Horizon Europe Guarantee funding scheme, association represents a crucial step forwards which provides us and our international partners with the certainty and clarity needed to be fully integrated into the collaborative ethos at the heart of Framework research.