The UK will continue to participate in and help fund five key EU research programmes, including the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe project.
Under the terms of the trade and co-operation agreement between the UK and EU, the UK will continue to play an active roll in the programmes which includes the Euratom nuclear research scheme, as well as the UE satellite and surveillance services.
The UK’s annual financial contribution to EU programmes is calculated on the country’s gross domestic product as a share of EU GDP – known as the ‘operational contribution’. There will also be an additional participation fee, calculator at 4% of the country’s operational sum.
The two further projects the UK will continue to contribute towards are the ITER project to build the world’s first functioning nuclear fusion system, and the earth monitoring project called Copernicus.
The UK has been a major benefactor of the various EU research programmes so far, securing €7 billion in funding between 2007 and 2013, as well as €5.9 billion in funding from Horizon 2020.
Read more: 5 issues UK businesses face despite the UK/EU trade deal
UK institutions had suffered as a result of the Brexit referendum in 2015 with EU-backed funding dropping by almost a third. However, the deal agreed on Christmas Eve ends uncertainty surrounding the UK’s eligibility for EU competitions.
Read more detail on the various frameworks here.
