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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK’s application to be an associated country to Horizon Europe is not delayed because of problems relating to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland; what discussions they have had with universities about the financial and reputational effects of the UK not being associated with Horizon Europe; and what was the total income for UK research projects from Horizon Europe in each of the last three financial years.

The UK stands ready to formalise our association to Horizon Europe, but there have been persistent delays from the EU, who have openly stated they are not proceeding with the UK’s participation in EU programmes due to wider political issues.

The Northern Ireland Protocol and the UK’s participation in Union programmes are entirely separate issues, and contained in different agreements. We are disappointed in the politicisation of valuable R&D collaboration, and continue to urge the Commission to finalise the UK’s participation in Horizon as soon as possible.

Supporting the UK’s research and development sector through this period of uncertainty has been our top priority. The Government engages regularly with the R&D sector, including with groups and individuals representing universities across the whole of the UK.

The net EU contribution of awards won by UK beneficiaries in Horizon 2020 – the predecessor programme to Horizon Europe which made its final awards in 2021 – by year of project signature date is:

[i] Figures are given in million EUR. Figures in GBP change with exchange rates and cannot be accurately reported due to exchange rate volatility. Data source is the Horizon R&I projects dashboard.