UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given the green light for a draft deal enabling Britain to join the EU’s Horizon Europe funding programme after two and a half years of post-Brexit negotiations, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Sunak has told British officials to finalise the draft agreement with the European Commission, which will see UK universities and startups able to receive funds from the EU scheme and take part in large pan-European collaborations, three UK officials and one EU diplomat confirmed with Sifted on condition of anonymity.
The move, first reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, will end a 32-month hiatus during which Britain was locked out of participating in the EU science and innovation scheme over the dispute between London and Brussels about post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.