 BBC News understands a deal for the UK's association with the EU's €100bn (£85bn) Horizon research and innovation programme has been negotiated. The proposed arrangement is awaiting approval from the prime minister. If Rishi Sunak agrees, an announcement is expected on Tuesday after his talks with the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The official government position is that talks are still ongoing and that no deal has been agreed. But highly placed sources have now told BBC News that a sticking point over how much research funding the UK is expected to receive has been resolved and that two separate options for associate membership await the prime minister's consideration. Mr Sunak has been said to be enthusiastic about an alternative, UK-led, international collaborative research programme, drawn up by the Science Minister, George Freeman. But the UK research community has constantly and unanimously argued for membership of the European Horizon programme. If Mr Sunak rejects the options on his desk the anger from the scientific establishment will be ''unimaginable", according to a senior scientific leader. Should events go as expected, the deal will come as a huge relief to the scientific community. Many of the UK's leading researchers have been left in limbo over the future of their world-leading research projects and in some cases their own jobs and those of their teams. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Nobel prize winner Sir Paul Nurse: "Prime minister should finalise the deal without further delay" Associate membership had been agreed as part of the withdrawal agreement when the UK formally left the EU at the end of January 2020. But the arrangement was not activated because of a disagreement over the Northern Ireland protocol. This was resolved in Fe){kind=link}
A deal for the UK’s association with the EU’s €100bn (£85bn) Horizon research and innovation programme has been negotiated, BBC News understands.
The proposed arrangement is awaiting approval from the prime minister.
If Rishi Sunak agrees, an announcement is expected on Tuesday after his talks with the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Downing Street said on Thursday morning that a “deal has not been agreed”.
But highly-placed sources have now told BBC News that a sticking point over how much research funding the UK is expected to receive has been resolved and that two separate options for associate membership await the prime minister’s consideration.