UKRO is delighted to confirm that the UK Government and the European Commission have reached an agreement in principle on the association of the UK to the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Once the relevant protocol of the TCA is signed, the UK will officially associate to Horizon Europe as of 1 January 2024.
UK organisations will be able to apply for and obtain EU funding, and crucially lead projects for, the vast majority of upcoming calls that will be opening throughout the autumn. For calls under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2024, successful UK applicants will be funded by the EU under Horizon Europe.
UK applicants to calls under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023 should continue to apply to Horizon Europe calls as beneficiaries, and if successful, they will be funded under the UK Guarantee scheme, which is expected to be extended shortly.
We will be working closely with subscribers to ensure your questions are addressed in the official guidance.
- Joint statement by the UK and Commission
- UK Gov press release
- EC Q&A on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus
Answers to immediate questions from subscribers
From when will the association agreements for Horizon Europe and Copernicus apply?
As stated in the European Commission’s Q&A, association to both programmes will become effective as of 1 January 2024.
Are the remaining 2023 Horizon Europe calls for proposals covered by the association agreement?
As stated in the joint statement, “UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme on the same terms as researchers from other associated countries, including leading consortia, from the 2024 Work Programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year. For calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, the European Commission will continue to administer transitional arrangements [with UK organisations applying as beneficiaries and becoming Associated Partners at the granting stage] and the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee.”
How can I know if the Horizon Europe call that I am applying to is covered by the association agreement?
The agreement means that UK organisations will be able to access Horizon Europe funding from 2024 work programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year. The easiest way to find out if a call is covered by the association agreement is to look at the call/topic identifier. All calls from the 2024 work programmes will have ‘2024’ included in their identifier (e.g. ERC-2024-SyG or HORIZON-HLTH-2024-STAYHLTH-01-05-two-stage).
What happens to UK participants on ongoing Horizon Europe projects, which are subject to the transitional arrangement?
As stated in the European Commission’s Q&A, “so far, scientists affiliated to a UK institution have benefited from a transitional arrangement, which allowed them to apply and be evaluated as other potential beneficiaries under Horizon Europe calls. However, in order to be eligible for EU funding, there needs to be an association agreement in place. In practice, this means that in most cases UK entities were able to continue cooperation within Horizon Europe research consortia [as Associated Partners] while obtaining their funding from other sources. Today’s agreement means that these researchers will be able to access Horizon Europe funding from 2024 work programmes and onwards.”