UK position paper: collaboration on science and research

Newington’s C laudia Hyde summarises the UK EU position paper on science and research collaboration.

The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) published a paper setting out the government’s position on future collaboration with the EU on science and research on 6 September.

The Prime Minister Theresa May already set out in her speech on 17 January this year that one of the UK’s core objectives in the Brexit negotiations is to “seek agreement to continue to collaborate with European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives”. The paper seeks to address some of the concerns voiced by the scientific community, both in the UK and in the EU, that the UK’s departure from the EU will hinder this collaboration, and sets out the UK’s priorities in the negotiations.

Key provisions

The paper outlines the mechanisms through which collaboration on research and scientific developments are currently carried out between UK and EU institutions. It recognises the benefits of the current arrangement in place, highlighting collaboration on medical research, Euratom and Horizon 2020 in which the UK makes valuable contributions.

Future membership arrangements

The paper states that the UK’s ambition is for its collaboration with the EU to be “not only maintained, but strengthened”, and hopes to enter into a wide-ranging partnership which enables regular dialogue between researchers and institutions
Although a “wish-list” of membership organisations is not set out, the paper names Euratom, Research and Innovation Framework Programmes, the European Medicines Agency and others as examples of bodies which the UK sees as especially valuable, and for which there is precedent of non-EU member state involvement
The paper stresses that the UK’s contribution to these bodies “would need to weigh against other spending priorities”, suggesting that its ambition is to closely mirror the current arrangement, but with greater flexibility over the research projects that it contributes to financially.

Freedom of movement

Stressing that freedom of movement would cease to apply post-Brexit, the paper emphasises that the UK will “remain a hub for international talent” and that it “will continue to welcome the brightest and best”
The UK’s ambition is to reach an arrangement with the EU in which the mobility of academics and researchers is not hindered, with the paper emphasising that “migration between the UK and the EU will continue after the UK leaves the EU.”

Analysis

Arguably less detailed than some of the other position papers that DExEU has produced, the paper concludes on a non-committal note: the UK’s ambition is to reach an agreement with the EU which is “far-reaching” and that “establishes a framework for future collaboration”, but does not specify what form this will take.

Without naming particular areas or bodies which it would consider most important for future collaboration, the paper notes that there “are a range of existing precedents for collaboration” which the future partnership can be based upon, whilst simultaneously emphasising that the UK’s history of collaboration with the EU is “special”, and the agreement reached should go above and beyond the partnership agreements that the EU currently has in place with other non-EU nations.

However, at the same time as it stresses the strategic benefits that close scientific collaboration between the UK and EU brings, the paper also reminds the EU of the relative strengths of the UK in this area: it notes that some of the UK’s most important collaborators are outside the EU, such as the USA, which is described as “the UK’s top research partner”. It further states that the share of EU co-authored publications in the top ten per cent of highly-cited publications is higher when collaborating with the UK. The underlying message of the paper is this: continuing as close a relationship as possible is in the EU’s interests.

Commenting on the paper, Brexit Secretary David Davis said: “This paper sends a clear message to the research and innovation community that we value their work and we feel it is crucial that we maintain collaboration with our European partners after we exit.” However, it appears that the scientific community does not share the government’s optimism on the clarity of its message: campaign group Scientists for EU commented that “the government’s paper is utterly devoid of any suggestions for bridging Brexit obstacles and developing this partnership into the future.”

Next steps

The paper is the first of four that the Government will be publishing before Parliament breaks on 15 September for party conference season. The remaining three papers will cover internal security, external security and fair and open trade.

If you would like to speak to Newington about how your business could best outline its position to the Government please get in touch with our dedicated Brexit team at TeamNExEU@newingtoncomms.co.uk or call Lizzy Roberts on 020 7234 3332.