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UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday rejected claims that talks over British membership of the EU’s Horizon science programme have stalled, insisting that London’s participation would be the “optimal outcome”.
Speaking during a visit to Brussels, Hunt said talks over the exact terms of UK membership of the €95.5bn programme were “becoming more crunchy” as the two sides seek to work out the precise basis on which a deal would work for British taxpayers.
“I wouldn’t describe them as stalled,” said Hunt, when asked during a press conference whether talks on Horizon were getting bogged down. “Both sides recognise it is a successful and very important programme and the optimal outcome would be to find a way where participation can work for the UK.”
He spoke as the UK and EU signed a deal on regulatory co-operation on financial services, in a fresh indication of improving relations between the two sides.
But UK science and industry leaders have warned that delays in negotiating British membership of Horizon are damaging the country’s aspirations to be a science superpower.
Rejoining Horizon was touted as one of the benefits from UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal with the EU in February, which resolved a bitter dispute over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements, but the two sides remain locked in talks about the bloc’s scientific research programme.
Hunt is demanding a discount on Britain’s participation fee in Horizon. The EU has offered to waive payments for two “lost” years given its science programme runs from 2021 to 2027.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson reached a £2bn-a-year deal for associate membership of Horizon in 2020 as part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Hunt discussed Horizon with Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of research. Officials said there had not been any breakthrough in the talks.
Both the UK and EU are attempting to step up co-operation as they seek to put the acrimony of recent years behind them.
Hunt’s visit to Brussels was the first by a British chancellor for more than three years and reflects warmer relations between the UK and EU since the signing of the “Windsor framework” that overhauled Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements.
Speaking alongside EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness, Hunt said the signature of the memorandum of understanding about regulatory co-operation marked an “important turning point”.
McGuinness said it was “really positive” that the two sides were putting in place a structured co-operation in the area of financial services.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, the trade body for the UK investment industry, said the signing of the memorandum of understanding was an “important milestone”.
By itself the new deal will not improve UK financial services companies’ access to the EU market however.
Clearing is the only area where the EU has granted the UK so-called regulatory “equivalence” in the aftermath of Brexit, albeit on a temporary basis. It means the City of London’s clearing houses continue to handle euro-denominated derivatives business until the middle of 2025.
Addressing the issue of collaboration on science, McGuinness said both sides knew the benefits of having a “shared area” around innovation. “I think the objective is a shared one and I would encourage more crunching so that we get a result,” she added.
Additional reporting by Chris Flood in London and Andy Bounds in Brussels
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