The EU still needs Britain more than Britain needs the EU

Resources could be better spent backing science mavericks on UK soil than funding Horizo

MATTHEW LYNN

The haggling is almost finished. The paperwork has been drawn up, and someone in Number 10 may already be deciding which university gets to host the photoshoot.

The UK is thought to be on the cusp of rejoining the European Union’s massive Horizon science research project, with Rishi Sunak reportedly poised to sign off on a deal once he has run the numbers.

But the Prime Minister is right to hesitate. While Horizon does some good work, its contribution to the scientific output of the Continent has been overblown.

Nor has it identified how to translate that output into commercial success. In reality: Horizon needs the UK more than we need it. We may still be better off controlling our own research and how it is funded.

For staunch Remainers, ending our association with the EU’s €100bn (£85bn) Horizon research and innovation programme was a great Brexit blow.

While the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement allowed associate membership, subsequent wrangling over the Northern Ireland protocol meant Britain was unable to activate it.

The Horizon programme funds science research across the Continent, pouring funds into universities and laboratories. Many in the scientific community were opposed to leaving the EU because it threatened this flow of money from Brussels. With an agreement on Northern Ireland reached, the path is clear for Britain to rejoin.

But while some researchers will welcome the news, this is not obviously the smart move for the UK.

It is true that a Horizon agreement could offer clarity, and allow the Continent to pool its scientific resources.

It could support Europe’s efforts to compete with the financial and intellectual clout of China and the US without dissolving those resources. Science and knowledge don’t respect national boundaries and the best minds may well come from anywhere.

But Horizon has its shortcomings.

First, the UK is Europe’s science powerhouse. On any measure you care to look at, Britain is ahead of any other major European country.

There are three British universities in the top seven worldwide (Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial) compared with none from Europe.

In the Top 100, the UK again dominates the list, with Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland trailing far behind. The UK ranks second globally for Nobel Prizes awarded between 1901 to 2021, with 138, second only to the US (400), and well ahead of Germany (111) or France (71).

We can all debate the reasons why. But it underscores the point that, without the UK, any European science programme will be significantly weakened.