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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his planned timetable is for the conclusion of agreements with the EU on the UK's participation in (a) Horizon Europe, (b) Euratom Research and Training Programme, (c) Fusion for Energy and (d) Copernicus.

The Government’s policy remains to seek association to EU Programmes as negotiated and agreed in December 2020 and we continue to do everything we can, but we cannot wait much longer. The EU is in breach of the agreement reached under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement for the UK to participate in EU programmes. At the UK-EU Specialised Committee meeting, which marked the end of the consultation period, the UK once again requested that the EU fulfil its obligation to finalise the UK’s association. It is regrettable that the EU continues to decline this request. The Government is now considering next steps. Our priority is to support the UK’s world leading R&D sector and we have already introduced the Horizon Europe guarantee scheme, announced up to £484m additional funding to be invested in the UK R&D sector and outlined potential options for increasing international research collaborations.