The European Commission will “start immediately” on ratifying the UK’s association to Horizon Europe once the agreement on Northern Ireland trade rules is finalised, its president Ursula von der Leyen has said.
Unveiling a new European-UK agreement at a joint press conference with prime minister Rishi Sunak, Ms von der Leyen said the expected deal would allow talks to resume about when Britain could join Europe’s flagship €80 billion (£70.6 billion) research scheme.
The commission had blocked the UK from finalising a deal on Horizon Europe association until agreement was reached on the wider dispute over Northern Ireland – seen as Brussels using the research programme as a political bargaining chip – which has been resolved three years after the initial Brexit deal, and just over two years after Horizon Europe membership was agreed.
“This Windsor framework is good news for scientists and researchers – in the European Union and in the UK – because the moment we have finished this agreement…the moment it is implemented, I am happy to start immediately, right now, the work of association agreement, which is the precondition for joining Horizon Europe,” explained Ms von der Leyen on 27 February.
