The United Kingdom has rejoined the European Union’s Horizon scheme, as a result of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s agreement with Ursula von der Leyen.
Horizon is one of the EU’s most important research and innovation funding programmes.
The United Kingdom will join Horizon as an “associated country” on January 1, 2024. British researchers will be able to join in the initiative on the same terms as European researchers.
The EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes finalised the political agreement on Monday, completing the penultimate stage towards the UK rejoining the programme.
As a result of the deal, the United Kingdom will have stronger relations with the European Union, allowing it to extend its research and innovation projects.
The UK and the EU will collaborate to bring together research communities to address important issues such as health crises and climate change.
The UK will contribute €2.43 billion per year and around €154 million for Copernicus participation under the new arrangement.
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space initiative that aims to examine the planet in a way that benefits everyone who lives on it.