Brexit to put at risk €2 billion of R&D funds

UK organisations have coordinated Horizon 2020 (H2020) projects worth €1.9 billion, according to exclusive research conducted by Cities Today.

The UK is the most prolific user of H2020 funding, working on a total of 3,070 projects, far more than second-placed Germany, which was involved in 2,762 projects. H2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding on the table until 2020.

The result of the UK’s referendum on European Union membership has got public sector workers worried about future funding difficulties.

“We are analysing our role,” said Alexia Bellemin of Access Europe Network, which helps London organisations explore and win European grants. “We won’t advise on what will happen. It all depends on what kind of deal the UK negotiates with European partners.”

Access Europe Network’s own research reveals that London-based organisations have received €167 million in Horizon 2020 funds since 2014. This is part of the reason why London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has been so keen to ensure London organisations can continue to access the single market. Other regions in the UK are equally likely to miss out. Cities Today research reveals that UK organisations across the country benefited from €950 million of Horizon 2020 funding.

“We have seen that start-ups and SMEs can still access Horizon 2020 funding with the SME instrument but the bigger impact is being felt by universities and research institutions,” says Serena Connor, an account manager at Tenshi Consulting, which assists public and private sector organisations pioneering new technologies.

Manchester University has claimed it has been dropped from eight collaborative bids with other EU partners because of long-term concerns about Brexit. This is where city councils and administrations will be hit hardest as many of their Horizon 2020 projects are led by their universities.

The European Commission has issued a statement assuring UK organisations that until the UK leaves the EU, EU law continues to apply to and within the UK and “this includes the eligibility of UK legal entities to participate and receive funding in Horizon 2020 actions”. However, on a practical level, institutions like Manchester are already feeling the pinch.

Talking at a recent presentation on the €13 million Opticities programme, Birmingham’s project leader Steve George lamented: “Unfortunately we’ve got Brexit, which means potentially this project goes no further.”

Opticities was led by the French city of Lyon and pioneered by Birmingham, Gothenburg, Madrid, Turin and Wroclaw. The plan was to take the results and replicate it across 50 cities around Europe. George says the European Commission is keen to see it replicated around Europe but it might need to do it without Birmingham.

“For Birmingham, regardless of Brexit, we will take forward the tools we have developed here. There is no reason why we can’t go it alone,” said George.

Non-EU organisations can still take part in Horizon 2020 projects through the international participation scheme but funding opportunities are more limited.

For an in-depth analysis of the issues raised in this story, read the next edition of Cities Today magazine, out in September.