UKRO European Liaison Officer Online Update Summary

On 13 March, UKRO held its latest European Liaison Officer (ELO) online update.

In the first session, a representative from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) spoke about the latest developments related to EU-UK relations and their impact on the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe. This was followed by an open ‘Question & Answer’ session.

According to the speaker, the recent establishment of DSIT with a dedicated seat at the Cabinet table for the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, is a very positive development.

It confirms the Government’s commitment to building a strong research and innovation system which remains open to global engagement. This commitment is supported by a new ten-point Science and Technology Framework, which includes an ‘International Opportunities’ chapter, outlining how the UK will enable broader European collaboration.

The UK has remained open to discussing research and innovation collaboration with the EU. The Windsor Framework and the declaration of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the EC’s willingness to restore dialogue on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe is very welcome, but no concrete proposals have been made yet.

The UK is ready for swift talks on the financial terms of the UK’s association, but given the two-year delay since the original agreement, these terms require revision. No concrete timeline has been agreed yet on the finalisation of the association process.

The guest speaker recognised that the continued uncertainty has been challenging for the UK research community and reiterated DSIT’s commitment to maintaining communication with the sector.

In response to the continued delay to UK’s association to Horizon Europe, the UK HE Guarantee has been extended by an additional three months and now covers calls with deadlines that close on or before the end of June 2023. The scope of the Guarantee remains under review, and the presenter encouraged the audience to keep applying. As a reminder, the transitional measures announced last year are still relevant.

UKRO update

During the second session, the UKRO team provided a comprehensive overview of its activities in 2022. It included examples of UKRO engagement in Brussels, the highlights of our services for subscribers and the MSCA ad ERC NCPs’ work. UKRO also demonstrated how subscribers’ feedback has helped to contribute to the development and improvement of the Horizon Europe Guarantee.
UKRO also talked about new or planned including the recruitment of two new roles: the UK NCP for Horizon Europe Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence (WIDERA) and the new Country National Coordinator for COST. Furthermore, UKRO announced it will launch a new UKRO portal by the end of March.

The full update is available in the UKRO presentation slides. Additional information from the Q&A session included the following points:

  • UKRO conference could possibly happen in the next financial year. The form and content would depend on the outcome of the UK Horizon Europe association. In the meantime, UKRO will continue the ELO catch-up events and webinars;
  • Those who expressed an interest in the New ELO Training in the UKRO office in Brussels will receive the final confirmation next week; and
  • The new UKRO portal will have our current URL. We will publish more information shortly. We encourage subscribers to let us know who at your organisation requires ELO access.

UKRO would like to thank the guest speaker and ELO colleagues for their active participation and for raising important issues during the event. Any unanswered questions have been taken away by DSIT and UKRO and will feed into future work. We hope this summary is also helpful for those ELOs who were not able to attend.

Where possible, UKRO will be providing subscribers with further guidance, either through UKRO articles or dedicated events.

Links shared during the meeting

Tags: UK ParticipationUKRO