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Britain returns to the EU research program ‘Horizon Europe’. The billion-dollar program supports scientific projects.

With a view to Brexit, a return was negotiated for a long time – now there is an agreement, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Commission of the European Union announced on Thursday.

Britain was excluded from Horizon in 2020. The move came in response to London’s unilateral action in the dispute over the special Brexit rules for Northern Ireland. British scientists have repeatedly called on their government to agree with the EU on a return.

“Horizon Europe” is an EU funding program for research and innovation with a budget of over €95 billion. It is designed for the years 2021 to 2027. The program supports research projects and international collaboration in science. Not only the money is important, but also the possibility of cooperation.

British scientists judged the return to be an important step. “From the early detection of ovarian cancer to the development of clean energy networks involving dozens of universities and many industrial partners, Horizon allows us to do things that wouldn’t be possible without this level of collaboration,” said Sally Mapstone, president of the Universities of Great Britain.

Britain also wants to participate in the Earth observation program Copernicus, but not in the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The point of contention in the negotiations for a return to the Horizon program was financial issues, which have now been resolved, according to London and Brussels.

(yam/sda/dpa)