On 11 September, UKRO held an ad hoc European Liaison Officer (ELO) update dedicated to the UK’s association to Horizon Europe.
A representative from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) spoke about the political agreement reached on 7 September by the UK Government and the European Commission on the association of the UK to the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes from 1 January 2024. UKRO covered the announcement in a dedicated article. DSIT has since published an explainer document for current grant holders and prospective applicants, which includes clarification on many issues related to UK association to both programmes.
Practical implications
During an open Q&A session, the speaker answered a number of questions on what the deal means for UK applicants and grantholders, reiterating that:
- Association is effective for all calls included in the Horizon Europe Work Programme with ‘2024’ in their call identifier (ID), regardless of the date of their deadlines (e.g., the ERC-2024-SyG with a deadline on 8 November 2023, is covered by association and projects will be funded by the ERC).
- All 2021, 2022 and 2023 calls with these years in the call ID, will continue to be implemented under the current transitional arrangements, with UKRI funding. This also applies to the remaining 2023 calls which may still be open, are currently under evaluation, or are in the Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP) stage. This means that no retrospective change to the status of UK entities from an Associated Partner back to a Beneficiary is foreseen for projects funded until now.
- The transitional arrangements still apply to all remaining 2023 calls, irrespective of their deadline date (e.g. HORIZON-MSCA-2023-DN-01-01 with a deadline in November 2023). UK organisations need to apply as Beneficiaries and request EU funding in order to be eligible for the UKRI Guarantee. As before, they will need to change their status to Associated Partners (transferring the coordination role to another consortium partner, if applicable), during the GAP. The UK will continue to provide funding for UK participants under the Horizon Guarantee. The scope of the UK HE Guarantee has been extended to cover all remaining 2023 calls.
Next steps
The political agreement achieved last week will now require formal approval in the UK and the EU. The speaker stressed that both sides are committed to finalising the adoption without delay. The confirmed Associated Country status will allow the UK to participate in the Horizon Europe Programme Committee(s) and to help shape future call topics and Work Programmes for the remainder of Horizon Europe. Internal planning is underway and the UK is looking forward to also contributing to the development of the next Horizon Europe Strategic Plan for 2025-27, as well as engaging in discussions about European Partnerships.
UKRO understands that discussions about the UK’s involvement in EU Framework Programme 10 (working title ‘FP10’) – the successor to Horizon Europe – will only be possible at a later stage of the new programme’s development.
It was recognised in the meeting that the delay in association has had a negative impact on the UK’s involvement in the first few years of Horizon Europe. Rebuilding the UK’s strong performance will require extra effort and DSIT will support the community in every possible way, including via intensified and clear communications. The first public webinar on Association to Horizon Europe open to UK and European stakeholders will be held by Innovate UK, KTN and UKRI on Thursday 14 September.
Further links to upcoming events are available on the UKRO slides that were presented during the event.
Lastly, regarding the decision not to associate to the Euratom programme, the UK government has announced an alternative domestic nuclear research and development scheme. The speaker from DSIT confirmed that the UK remains open to collaboration with the EU and other international partners, and this will form a key part of this new scheme.
UKRO would like to thank the guest speaker and ELO colleagues for their active participation. Any unanswered questions have been taken away by DSIT and UKRO and will be reflected in the updated guidance.
We hope that this summary is also helpful for those ELOs who were not able to attend.