Research Funding and Brexit
The United Kingdom left the EU on December 31, 2020. With the withdrawal agreement of 24/12/2020, UK institutions will typically remain eligible for programs funded by the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework. This also includes Horizon 2020. An exception applies to projects with access to security-relevant information. These could possibly be ended prematurely.
The agreement is also intended to enable participation in Horizon Europe, the successor to Horizon 2020. However, the EIC fund as part of the accelerator is excluded.
An association to the Copernicus program as part of the space program, Euratom and ITER is also planned. The United Kingdom will no longer take part in ERASMUS+.
For participation, it is required, that the UK contributes to the EU budget. The agreement has yet to be approved by the European Parliament.
In case that the association fails UK will be an "associated partner".
On 16 August, the UK has opened a formal consultation process with the EU to resolve disputes regarding the implementation of the 2021 Trade and Cooperation Agreement .
The United Kingdom (UK) government has again extended its commitment to provide replacement funding for UK participants in Horizon Europe. The "guarantee" now covers all calls in Horizon Europe with a submission deadline before or on December 31, 2022.
Attention: New transitional measures announced to support the R&D sector if the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe
- The individual transitional measures are included in the document "Supporting UK R&D and collaborative research beyond European programmes" which contains further information.
- The announcment also sets out a preliminary vision for a long term, alternative programme to Horizon (incl. Copernicus and Euratom UK alternatives) should it be required. This programme will be established as quickly as possible. Detailed proposals will be published soon (please refer to the UKRO factsheet below).
Due to the delay in the UK's association with the EU, the UK Government has announced a guarantee of funding for UK partnersparticipating in Horizon Europe and other EU funding.
- UKRO factsheet on UK participation in EU programmes
- Here you can find the EU press release on the agreement of December 24th, 2020.
- UK government provides financial safety net for Horizon Europe applicants (November 29th, 2021) ,
- UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee guidance
- Horizon Europe Guarantee Extension Announcement for the UK’s R&D Sector
- Europäische Kommission: Questions & Answers on the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe