As the UK government sorts out the argument with EU over the border between Eire & Great Britain, rejoining Horizon Europe becomes a possibility although it seems that Rishi Sunak is not so keen. (from the FT).
The advantage of the EU’s R&D programme is more than the value of the financial investment; it also requires that it finances projects with multiple collaborating entities, i.e. large and small companies and universities and that these projects consist of participants from more than one country. The advantage to participants is the leverage on their own money. A company invests an amount, works with others to increase that investment and the EU matches the contribution. The original investment by the participants is multiplied many times.
The UK received €5bn in the last full year of its participation, and while not in my view large, in the scale of macroeconomic numbers, it’s in the same league as Labour’s green investment plan, more if you take into account the private sector contributions. The loss of Horizon funding has disproportionately impacted the University sector; projects and posts are closing down.
The UK economy needs more R&D and Horizon Europe is an important means of generating and financing it.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
