Horizon Europe: UK accuses EU of politicizing science programme

oh Harrison Europe is the main project European union It is, on several fronts, to fund the camp’s scientific research and development UK Access remains after Brexit. Or rather, was.

In August 2022, the UK appealed against its exclusion from Horizon, which was reinforced this Monday (14); The move was prompted by the British government’s review of trade agreements involving Northern Ireland, in which the research program was politicized.

The terms of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union allowed for collaboration between the two in scientific research and development, which extended to the Horizon Europe programme. Planned to cover research from 2021 to 2027, and with a budget of €95 billion, it It was proposed To fund projects on several fronts such as the Copernicus satellite system for climate monitoring, Euratom nuclear energy regulation and advances in health, public safety, hunger relief, etc.

The original agreement with the United Kingdom allowed Horizon Europe and other EU countries to participate and fund it, but the European Parliament barred the British from participating, while Northern Ireland disputes the protocol. are resolved.

The Protocol is a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union that allows Northern Ireland, a British territory, to continue to enjoy the trade benefits of the Republic of Ireland as a member state of the European Union. In theory, the agreement established in January 2021 prevents the creation of a barrier between the two Irelands, so that it is maintained as a single state and free of conflicts for products and services. It ratifies the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) of 1998, which prohibits the creation of borders on the island.

What the protocol does not provide is the flow of goods and services between Northern Ireland and the rest of Brittany, where Article 16 has become a point of friction between the UK and the EU. It guaranteed Britons a six-month grace period to implement Brexit, which was extended “indefinitely” by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration.

In the document, Article 16 could be triggered if the protocol causes “economic, social or environmental problems” or a “diversion of trade” between the parties, the British said. The agreement imposed severe compromises in other parts of the country, and it enforced more stringent rules, including the UK Parliament proposing to unilaterally change the rules, which would “ensure the flow of goods and services” between the UK and Northern Ireland.

Obstacles on the horizon

Experts say that Article 16 is set so loosely that any party can use any argument to invoke it, and unsurprisingly, on the European side, the move has been poorly received.

At the time, Johnson also supported the removal of the European Court of Justice and the European Commission as administrators of the agreement, guaranteeing the free movement of goods and services; For the EU, the maneuver is designed to ensure that Britons continue to enjoy the benefits of the European Union, even after Brexit.

The Copernicus satellite system, of which Sentinel-1b was a part (its mission was recently terminated), was one of the projects funded by Horizon Europe (Credit: European Space Agency)

On the European side, negotiations are underway to establish better communications and trade terms between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but for all practical purposes, the British government has signed the deal and agreed to terms imposed only on Boris Johnson. He wants to play Darth Vader. Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar does not believe there is a better solution than the one previously established.

Faced with impasse, the European Commission took the decision to ban British participation in Horizon Europe, in which the country cannot fund, or collect data from, projects established and maintained by the continent. Northern Ireland’s protocol was resolved in January 2023 when a unilateral ratification referendum was held.

Leo Docherty, Under-Secretary-General of the European Parliament, lamented that the British participation would benefit everyone and that the split in research and development of the elderly would harm everyone involved. The politicization of Horizon by its peers, the indictment maintained by the United Kingdom in the last formal representation, sought to restore access:

“Putting politics ahead of scientific collaboration limits human potential, and harms everyone.”

Maroš Šefčovič, the vice-president of the European Union, regretted the situation, but did not retract the decision to submit Horizon, having previously agreed to the British submission, and that this development “happened as a way to solve the problem”, and that “the EU is not chasing a political victory”.

The United Kingdom, on the other hand, did not want to wait, and last week, Signed a contract Scientific cooperation with Switzerland, which was also extended beyond Horizon Europe.

Most experts agree that if the UK is permanently banned from Horizon, the consequences would be dire for everyone, but for now, at least, there are no signs that the dispute will be resolved amicably.

Source: The next web