UK participation in Horizon 2020 continues to fall

It is no secret that the UK has greatly benefitted from full participation in European Union research funding programmes.

UK organisations and researchers received over €7bn worth of funding from Framework Programme 7 between 2007 and 2013 and have so far captured over €4.6bn in Horizon 2020 grants.

In 2016 the Chancellor pledged to underwrite Horizon 2020 grants awarded to UK recipients after the UK leaves the EU. With Government ramping up contingency planning for ‘no deal’ in recent weeks, there were many concerns about what that means. In our meetings with officials they've been very keen to reiterate that planning for no deal is part of them taking a responsible approach to planning but that it is not what they're working to as a preferable or likely outcome. In late July the Rt Hon Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, made a statement confirming that in the event of a ‘no deal’, the Government would underwrite all successful bids in to EU funding programmes until the end of 2020.

This confirmation is welcome. There is still a general sense of unease around what the future holds for UK participation in EU science programmes. This seems to be reflected in UK participation outlined in statistics released by the UK Government which provide an insight in to how the UK has interacted with the programme since the Brexit vote. The statistics show that the UK share of participations and share of funding received have decreased over the past 18 months. In September 2016, the UK had the largest share of participations in projects but now the UK ranks second behind Germany. The statistics in these tables relate to the lifetime of the programme up until the stated month, not just statistics for the stated month.

It is difficult to link these trends directly to the result of the referendum but what is clear is that the UK is engaging less with Horizon 2020. Despite assurances and existing rules, uncertainty does seem to be having an effect. This summer is a very active period for scrutinising proposals on Horizon 2020’s successor, Horizon Europe, which has begun the legislative journey through the European Parliament. The draft regulations have left the door open for the UK to participate should it provide appropriate fiscal contributions. The UK Government has publicly stated it wishes to continue to participate in European programmes but no agreement has been reached. There’s a long way to go yet.

James Tooze is Policy Officer at the Campaign for Science and Engineering