Britain has launched dispute resolution proceedings with the European Union to try to gain access to the bloc’s scientific research programmes, including Horizon Europe, the government said on Tuesday, in the latest post-Brexit row.
Under a trade agreement signed at the end of 2020, Britain negotiated access to a range of science and innovation programmes, including Horizon, a 95.5 billion euro ($97 billion) programme that offers grants and projects to researchers.
But 18 months on, Britain says the EU has yet to finalise access to Horizon, Copernicus, the earth observation programme on climate change, Euratom, the nuclear research programme, and to services such as Space Surveillance and Tracking.
Both sides have said cooperation in research would be mutually beneficial but relations have soured over part of the Brexit divorce deal governing trade with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, prompting the EU to launch legal proceedings.
“The EU is in clear breach of our agreement, repeatedly seeking to politicise vital scientific cooperation by refusing to finalise access to these important programmes,” foreign minister Liz Truss said in a statement.
“We cannot allow this to continue. That is why the UK has now launched formal consultations and will do everything necessary to protect the scientific community,” said Truss, also the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.
The European Commission said it had “taken note” of Britain’s announcement.
“The Commission takes note of the UK’s request for consultation and will follow up on this in line with the applicable rules, as set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA),” spokesman Daniel Ferrie said.
On Tuesday Ferrie said the TCA did not provide a specific obligation or deadline for the EU to associate the UK with union programmes.
The EU launched legal proceedings against Britain in June after London published legislation to override some post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland, and Brussels has thrown doubt on its role within the Horizon Europe programme.
Britain said it had set aside around 15 billion pounds for Horizon Europe.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan in London and John Chalmers in Brussels; Editing by Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie)
