Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what systems and rules will govern the (a) allocation, (b) transmission and (c) data sharing for the three electricity interconnectors between the UK, France, the Netherlands and Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
During an Implementation Period trade across the four electricity interconnectors between the UK and EU, to France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium, would continue under the same rules as now. The arrangements for trading beyond the Implementation Period are expected to be part of the Future Economic Partnership negotiations.
As part of contingency plans for the UK leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement, interconnectors have consulted on the arrangements for cross-border trading that would be in place, and are working closely with regulators and market participants to ensure these are understood.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will participate in (a) Galileo, (b) Copernicus, and (c) other EU space programmes after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government’s intention is for the UK to continue to participate in EU space programmes and our role within the European Space Agency will not change when we leave the EU.
The terms the European Commission are prepared to offer for UK participation in Galileo fall well short of the minimum we would consider acceptable as set out in our Technical Paper of May 2018. In December 2018, the Prime Minister therefore announced that that we will develop our own Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and will not seek to use Galileo for critical national infrastructure or defence. We continue to assess our participation to the civil outputs of Galileo.
The UK has been a key player in designing and delivering Copernicus’s infrastructure, satellites and instruments. Copernicus is a user-driven, civil programme producing data that is freely available for all to use and we will be seeking to continue to participate in Copernicus after we leave the EU.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will be a member of European Research Infrastructure Consortia after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Both the ‘Framework for the UK-EU partnership in Science, Research and Innovation’ and ‘The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union’ outline the UK’s ambition to continue to host and support European Research Infrastructures post EU Exit. The Political Declaration also expresses the commitment of the UK and the EU to explore UK participation in European Research Infrastructure Consortia after we have left the EU.
Any country in the world can be a member of an ERIC, however membership as a third country would require the UK to accept the terms of the EU ERIC Regulation, under which these separate legal entities are formed. Therefore, our continued participation is subject to negotiation with the European Commission.
However, should membership not be possible, BEIS and delegated responsible authorities are working with each individual ERIC to explore the potential alternatives for continued UK participation.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will continue to participate in the European Networks of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) and Gas (ENTSO-G) after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government is seeking broad energy cooperation with the EU to establish a framework to facilitate technical cooperation with European bodies, such as ENTSO-E and ENTSO-G, and data sharing to facilitate efficient trade over interconnectors over different timeframes. We believe there are strong mutual benefits from continuing to work closely together on energy after the UK leaves the EU.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will continue to participate in European research programmes such as Horizon 2020 after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government’s immediate priority remains to ensure that UK participation in Horizon 2020 continues until the end of December 2020. The proposed Withdrawal Agreement, on entering force, would provide for ongoing UK participation in EU programmes until the end of 2020, and ensure funding is provided for the lifetime of individual projects beyond this. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government’s underwrite guarantee, which was announced in August 2016 would fund all successful competitive UK bids submitted to Horizon 2020 before exit. The extension to the guarantee, announced in July 2018, would also cover successful bids to Horizon 2020 calls open to third country participation that were submitted after point of exit, until the end of 2020. Both the guarantee and extension apply for the lifetime of projects.
Although third country participation is not possible for some ERC and MSCA grants, the Government is working with stakeholders to identify appropriate measures that could be put in place in the period immediately after EU Exit, if needed.