Fear political impasse will stop UK getting innovation funding
The Welshman who devised the highly acclaimed European student programme Erasmus from which the UK has withdrawn because of Brexit, now has fears about our involvement in another prestigious initiative called Horizon. Political editor-at-large Martin Ship
AS ONE of the most senior officials of the European Commission in the 1980s, Hywel Ceri Jones can take credit for the creation of Erasmus, which has enabled huge numbers of European students to study in other countries, broadening their knowledge and outlook.
He was devastated when Boris Johnson vetoed the UK’s continuing participation in the programme after Brexit and its replacement by what many see as an inferior substitute.
Dr Jones has worked with the Welsh Government on a project to improve on Westminster’s new scheme.
Now he is worried by a threat to the UK’s participation in Horizon, another European programme aimed at driving business innovation.
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation.
Entities from both the EU and “associated” third countries can participate in it by applying for funding.
Alongside the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) agreed between the EU and UK negotiators, it was agreed in principle that the UK would participate in Horizon.
However, despite this agreement in principle, the UK’s association to Horizon Europe is yet to be finalised more than one year on.
Recently the House of Lords European Affairs Committee has been taking evidence from witnesses who have previously been involved with the Horizon programme from a UK perspective.
All the witnesses expressed strong support for the UK’s association to Horizon Europe. Peter Mason, for example, the head of international engagement for Universities UK, described it as “absolutely critical to the interests of our sector” in terms of enabling scientific collaboration, attracting world-leading research talent to the UK and safeguarding research income.
Similarly, the Russell Group of leading universities, which includes Cardiff University, told the committee that association was “in the best interests of research and innovation in the UK”.
The Russell Group provided quantitative evidence on several specific benefits of the Horizon programme.
It noted that under Horizon Europe’s predecessor, Horizon 2020, the UK had “over 31,000 collaborative links with countries around the world”.
It also noted the benefits for businesses, with a total of €1.4bn awarded to nearly 2,000 British businesses under Horizon 2020, 60% of which was awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Russell Group further highlighted the European Research Council (ERC) as “the jewel in the crown” of the programme, with funding from ERC grants accounting for 30% of the UK’s total funding and with more ERC grants to Russell Group universities alone than to the whole of France.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Lord Kinnoull, who chairs the European Affairs Committee, stated: “The delay to finalising the UK’s association with Horizon Europe is already causing uncertainty and eroding confidence among researchers.
“Our witnesses identified a chilling effect whereby EU researchers are reluctant to collaborate with their UK counterparts, to the detriment of both sides.
“Moreover, the longer association is delayed, the worse this situation will get. We are also concerned that a ‘non-association’ outcome would disrupt the funding stability that UK researchers rely on; diminish the UK sector’s attractiveness to global talent; and render the Government’s stated desire for the UK to become a ‘science superpower’ far more difficult to achieve.
“There was consensus among the witnesses that the causes of the current impasse are political, not functional, with Horizon Europe association being treated as a negotiating pawn in the context of wider difficulties in the UK-EU relationship.
“Given that the cause of the impasse appears to be political, we also agree with our witnesses that unblocking the question of association requires high-level political intervention, which is why we are addressing this letter to you. We urge you to work with the EU to unblock the political impasse and secure the UK’s association to a programme which is of great importance to researchers in the UK and the EU alike.”
Lord Kinnoull went on to raise concerns about suggestions that a “Plan B” was being talked up by the UK Government that would involve the UK not being associated with Horizon.
An article published in the journal Science Business earlier this week stated: “Science minister George Freeman has repeatedly warned Brussels that the UK is working on a ‘Plan B’, even though its priority remains associating to Horizon Europe. ‘We cannot wait forever,’ he said in a letter earlier this month.
“There are so far few public details of what this would involve, but Freeman has said it would aim to deliver ‘many of the benefits of Horizon association, with additional benefits, through wider global participation, and even stronger industry and SME engagement’.”
No response from Ms Truss to Lord Kinnoull’s letter has yet been made public.
In a letter to Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation, Culture, Education and Youth, Lord Kinnoull stated: “Our committee is deeply concerned by the delay to the UK’s association, which is already having a detrimental impact on UK and EU researchers alike – an impact which is expected to worsen the longer the delay continues.
“We agree with our witnesses that securing association would be a genuine ‘win-win’ for both the UK and the EU, and we regard the apparent politicisation of mutually beneficial scientific cooperation as a deeply regrettable development.
“We strongly hope that the Commission will work with the UK Government to unblock the current impasse as soon as possible, in the interests of both sides, and regardless of ongoing disputes in separate areas of the UK-EU relationship.”
Concerned at the UK Government’s failure to confirm its association with Horizon, Dr Jones said: “It is a double hammer blow to our institutions and all those in the world of business wishing to promote innovation and those concerned to marshal policies and programmes to combat climate change as part of our global responsibility post-Glasgow [a reference to last year’s international climate change conference].
“We will be detached because of our ideological positioning from what have been two global winners which are in our fundamental long term interest.”