Handelsblatt International correspondent Torsten Riecke analyzes interesting data and trends from all over the world in his weekly column. You can reach him at [email protected].
(Photo: Klawe Rzeczy)
London When it comes to the political narrative for Brexit, the distribution of roles is usually clear from the EU’s point of view: the stubborn Brits are the bad guys who left the European family out of narrow-minded nationalism. The fact that London is willing to unilaterally terminate the Northern Ireland protocol on trade with the EU has revived the old accusation of the “perfidious Albion” in the heated Brexit dispute. It may therefore come as a surprise to many on the continent that the British government is now accusing Brussels of breaching its promise and is therefore at least politically right.
The EU is in the process of jeopardizing the more than four decades of successful cooperation between British and continental European scientists in a power game with London. In essence, it is about the 95.5 billion euro funding program “Horizon Europe”, which for many of the scientists involved represents the financial basis for their research work. But the Copernicus earth observation program and the European Atomic Energy Community Euratom are also affected.
Brussels is blocking British researchers from getting funding because London is questioning the controversial Northern Ireland protocol. The British have now taken legal action against the EU blockade and are threatening to launch their own research program. “The window of opportunity for association is closing fast and we must ensure that political issues do not stand in the way of a sensible solution,” warns Sir Adrian Smith, President of Britain’s Royal Society.
In December 2020, both sides agreed to keep joint cutting-edge research out of the ongoing dispute over Great Britain’s exit from the EU. As an “associated country” in the funded research projects, the British should keep their often leading role. Both sides benefit from this, not only do they share the valuable know-how, but London also wanted to contribute more than 15 billion euros to the program.
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By excluding Great Britain, the EU is not only harming the Brexit hardliners in London, but above all many scientists – and itself. Thanks to their top universities, British researchers are world leaders in many areas. This applies in particular to medical research into vaccines against highly contagious diseases such as corona or malaria. Many scientists caught in the political crossfire between Brussels and London are now faced with the choice of packing their bags and moving to an EU country to secure research funding.
While Brussels emphasizes that the EU is still interested in close cooperation in research, it is “important to remember the political context”. Apparently the Commission is taking numerous scientists hostage in order to put pressure on London in the Northern Ireland dispute. João Vale de Almeida, the EU ambassador to the UK, recently warned that British scientists could become “collateral damage” in the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol. The fact that the EU is using the same means of pressure on Switzerland to soften it up because of the collapse of the framework agreement shows that Brussels has now understood the “language of power”, but is making serious slips of the tongue.
Switzerland is also in the EU’s headlock
Does the EU really want to exclude two of the most research-intensive countries in Europe for gaining political ground? The community often complains about Europe’s technological lag compared to China and the USA. Technologically and economically, Europe has also fallen behind because its brightest minds have long tried their luck in America. The Europeans cannot therefore afford to revert to small states in research and development and to alienate their scientific talents through political power games. In this case, Brussels seems to be more narrow-minded than London.
More: London takes action against Brussels – dispute over science program.