Germany resists EU move to limit UK role on R&D

Germany is leading a backlash of EU capitals against proposals from the European Commission to exclude the UK and other non-EU countries from sensitive parts of the bloc’s €90bn scientific co-operation programme. 

Berlin has hit back against moves by Brussels to restrict the right of scientists based in non-EU countries to collaborate in EU-funded projects relating to quantum technologies and space research, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

The curbs would target researchers from countries such as the UK, Switzerland and Israel that pay to affiliate to the EU’s research and innovation programme, known as Horizon Europe. 

The commission proposed the step on the grounds that it would support the bloc’s drive for greater strategic autonomy by keeping valuable intellectual property within the EU. But diplomats from a number of EU nations said that the policy had sparked concerns about creeping protectionism that could damage co-operation with longstanding and trusted partners.

Diplomats said about half of the EU’s 27 nations voiced concerns at a meeting of the bloc’s research working party on Monday. Further discussions are planned for Tuesday.

Germany’s research minister Anja Karliczek wrote to the commission this month to warn that the planned exclusions “have caused concern not only in Germany, but also in many other countries and in the research community”. 

“Switzerland, Israel and the United Kingdom have traditionally been important partners with excellent research institutions and outstanding researchers particularly in the field of quantum technologies,” the minister wrote in the letter seen by the FT, which was addressed to EU commissioners Thierry Breton and Mariya Gabriel. “It would be very detrimental to the European Union’s research and innovation potential if these countries were not allowed to participate in calls for proposals.”

The Danish government has also circulated a position paper warning that “wide exclusions” would dent Horizon Europe’s “value in the long run”.

Diplomats said that other countries had raised concerns in recent weeks, including the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium along with the Baltic states.

The spat is one of the first examples of the EU’s oft-stated goal of greater strategic autonomy running into political obstacles when Brussels tries to put it into practice.

Horizon Europe, which is set to run from 2021 to 2027, is the latest iteration of the EU’s seven-year cycles of R&D funding. It has a budget of about €95.5bn and is the largest transnational research programme in the world. It is also one of a small number of EU schemes that Britain sought, and obtained, the right to take part in under the terms of its Brexit trade deal.

The commission said that the legislation establishing Horizon Europe “foresees that the EU may limit participation to selected entities when there is a justified need to safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security”.

“Any limitation will be exceptional, kept to the absolutely necessary minimum, and be duly justified,” the commission added. “The discussions on this are still ongoing, we have no further comment.”

The disagreement comes at a time when internal debates are playing out within the commission over how far to push an autonomy agenda driven by the bruising experience of Donald Trump’s presidency, supply chain vulnerabilities revealed by the pandemic, and the challenge of handling China’s economic rise. 

Should the commission decide to stick to its position on participation in Horizon Europe, it could be overturned by opposition from a weighted majority of governments — a scenario diplomats said was feasible given the breadth of opposition.

“This vision of protectionism disguised as strategic autonomy buries the EU’s aspirations on technology leadership in the sand,” said one diplomat. 

A draft statement being worked on by the group of concerned countries, and seen by the FT, warned that the commission approach “would result in mistrust among the scientific community and minimise the added value of Horizon Europe for the EU significantly”.