Horizon Europe

(asked on 20th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the science research budget under Horizon Europe will be maintained at the same levels as Horizon 2020 funding for the UK; and what steps he is taking to secure that level of funding.


Answered by
George Freeman Portrait
George Freeman
This question was answered on 28th September 2021

Future funding decisions are subject to the outcome of the Spending Review which will set budgets from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The Chancellor has reiterated the Government’s commitment to cement the UK’s position as a science superpower through an ambitious R&D package.

The Government increased investment in R&D to £14.9bn for 2021/22, putting public investment at its highest level for four decades. We are committed to achieving our target of total UK investment in R&D increasing to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.

The UK and the EU agreed the terms for our association to Horizon Europe under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

As the underpinning EU legislation was not yet adopted when the TCA was agreed, this was accompanied by a Joint Declaration on Participation in Union Programmes and Access to Programme Services, which set out the parties’ intention to formalise UK participation at the earliest opportunity.

Now that the EU legislation underpinning the Horizon Europe programme is in force, the UK stands ready to formalise our participation at the earliest opportunity. UK entities are eligible and are strongly encouraged to apply for Horizon Europe funding, which the Commission has made clear in the Q&A on their website.

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