Brexit
Message from UK ambassador to Danish Science and Innovation community
To our friends and colleagues in the Danish Science & Innovation community,
I am writing to you following the recent announcement on the conclusion of negotiations between the UK and the European Union. The UK will associate to Euratom, Copernicus and Horizon Europe, subject to ratification of the overall deal and finalisation of the programme regulations. The UK will only be able to participate in programmes once the EU has finalised its Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-27. As such, the detail on the programmes the UK will join will be published alongside the main agreement.
The UK government has decided that it is not in the UK's interests to seek continuing participation in the Erasmus+ programme; however, the Government fully recognises the benefits of international exchange in education and training, so will be launching a new scheme, set out below.
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe will provide a platform through which UK scientists and innovators can tackle significant and shared challenges in society – ranging from climate change to global health. We are looking forward to continuing our strong relationship with Denmark through the Horizon Europe platform, which gives access to not only research funding but also cross-border networks and the EIT, supply chains for new products and global talent. And we hope to build on this by deepening our important collaboration on scientific research with our EU partners as well as globally. The UK Government is strongly encouraging UK researchers and businesses to form collaborative partnerships with international counterparts and prepare to bid into Horizon Europe; we would very much like to encourage Danish scientists, innovators and organisations to continue to work with UK partners now and in the future. For current UK recipients of Horizon 2020 funding, the terms and conditions will remain the same as agreed under the Withdrawal Agreement.
Euratom and Copernicus
The UK has also reached an agreement with the EU and Euratom to associate to the next Euratom Research & Training (R&T) Programme 2021-2025. This agreement includes UK participation in the ITER fusion collaboration through membership of Fusion for Energy. This will allow UK researchers and companies to continue to deliver vital work for ITER.
The UK will also participate in Copernicus, and the deal includes access to services from the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking programme: these will provide platforms for further productive collaboration in these vital areas of research.
Erasmus+ and the new Turing scheme
For Erasmus+, the UK and EU were not able to come to an agreement on terms for participation. The current proposal is to significantly increase the budget, which does not provide value for money for the UK taxpayer. We recognise the benefits of Erasmus+ but we respect the EU’s prerogative to set the terms for its programmes; instead we will proceed with the introduction of a new international educational exchange scheme that has a global reach and increases social mobility. The Turing scheme will be backed by over £ 100 million, providing funding for around 35,000 students in universities, colleges and schools to go on placements and exchanges overseas, starting in September 2021
UK institutions will be able to bid into the scheme from early 2021, and we are encouraging universities, colleges and schools to begin preparation with international partners as soon as possible. We will share further information on this scheme with you in the coming weeks. I look forward to continuing to work with you to support links between students in Denmark and the UK.
I look forward to bridging on this framework and developing our science and innovation co-operation in the years ahead.
Kind regards,
Emma Hopkins