Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is refusing to rush Britain back into the EU’s 95.5 billion euros Horizon Europe research programme, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Even though ‘time is of the essence’, a joint statement by the European research community with 18 signatories said last week.
Among the signatories are UK research charities such as the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK, European university alliances including LERU and The Guild.
As for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen she has already said that once the new Brexit trade deal between Britain and the EU has been implemented, the EU can work on Britain joining Horizon Europe again.
“This Windsor Framework is good news for scientists and researchers in the European Union and in the UK. (…) I’m happy to start immediately the work on an association agreement which is the precondition to join Horizon Europe”, Von der Leyen also told the press on Monday.
