The United Kingdom Government and European Commission have reached an agreement on the association of the UK to Horizon Europe, the world’s largest research collaboration programme. Plus Copernicus, the European Earth Observation programme.
Association to Horizon Europe will further strengthen the existing links between the scientific communities in the UK and the EU, as well as boost innovation and enable researchers to work together on global challenges from climate to health. UK and EU scientists and researchers can have confidence in continuing long-term partnerships with their counterparts.
UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme 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 while the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee.
This will not only open up cooperation with the EU, but also Norway, New Zealand and Israel which are part of the programme – and countries like Korea and Canada which are looking to join too.
The association of the UK to Copernicus will enable the UK's access to a state-of-the art capacity to monitor the Earth. The UK will also have access to EU Space Surveillance and Tracking services. The UK's association to Copernicus comes as the Copernicus space infrastructure and its information services are evolving and their contribution to understanding and acting on environmental and climate change related challenges is more important than ever. The UK will share access to unique data – which could help with early flood and fire warnings, for example.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “The EU and UK are key strategic partners and allies, and today's agreement proves that point. We will continue to be at the forefront of global science and research.”
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan said:
"Today is a fantastic day for UK science and our whole economy...The Horizon programme is unrivalled in its scope and opens up a world of opportunity for cooperation on science that delivers real-world benefits for the UK - creating jobs, boosting our economy and opening up collaboration for the sector with some of our closest partners, whether on tackling climate change or advancing cancer research."
Dame Professor Angela McLean, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser said: "This is great news for UK science and technology. International collaboration is a vital part of a thriving science ecosystem and association with the Horizon programme bolsters our plans to secure our status as a science and technology superpower."
Paul Boyle, EUA Vice-President and Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University said: "This Horizon Europe deal ensures that the UK will be able to join forces with our European partners to tackle some of the greatest challenges that we are facing together. This provides the stable, long-term foundation for British and EU researchers to make real and lasting progress and the excitement among our colleagues is palpable."
The UK Government has published a document which includes information on the UK association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus: explainer document,
UKRO factsheet providing the latest information on the UK joining Horizon Europe, plus information on other European programmes: UKRO factsheet