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Brexit

Brexit and Horizon 2020 update

29 Jun 2020

Information about Brexit negotiations and Horizon 2020

Fourth Round of Negotiations

UK and EU negotiators have concluded their fourth round of talks on the future UK-EU relationship. Michel Barnier followed this with a press briefing stating that little progress had been made, while the UK made public the transcript of the discussion that took place in Parliament.

Meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee

The Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, (WAJC) - a committee made up of representatives of the UK and EU - met on 12 June 2020 via videoconference to discuss the progress made on implementing the Withdrawal Agreement (WA).  There were updates from each of the sub-committees and some minor errors and omissions in the WA were corrected - the UK confirmed that it would not be extending the transition period beyond 31 December 2020. The EU noted that the discussions had to move quickly from aspiration to operation. Both the UK and the EU released a statement after the meeting.

High-Level Meeting of UK and EU Leaders

On 15 June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson met the President of the European Council, Charles Michel; the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, to take stock of progress made so far and to look at how negotiations for the future UK-EU relationship can continue despite the current deadlock.  The parties decided to continue the negotiations in July and underlined their commitment to finding an agreement that worked for all parties.  The EU released a brief follow-up statement.

Horizon 2020

Important reminder: As stated in previous communications, the Withdrawal Agreement means that the UK can continue to participate in EU programmes, including Horizon 2020, that are financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) until their closure (i.e. for the lifetime of grants).

UK participants will continue to receive EU grant funding for the lifetime of individual Horizon 2020 projects, including projects finishing after the transition period ends at the end of 2020. UK scientists, researchers and businesses can thus continue to participate in and lead Horizon 2020 projects and apply for Horizon 2020 grant funding. This includes the currently open and upcoming Horizon 2020 calls for proposals such as: