UK expects Horizon Europe contribution clawback

The UK is anticipating that it will claw back money from the EU due to underperformance in its first year of association to the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, a government document shows. 

Under the terms of a deal that allowed the UK to rejoin the programme in 2024, there’s a mechanism that allows London to recoup funds if it sends at least 16% more to the EU than British scientists win from the programme, effectively capping its loses. 

With the UK underperforming in the programme, due to its long Brexit-related absence from 2021 to 2024, in which ties with EU scientists withered, the British government appears to have now publicly acknowledged some kind of clawback will happen. 

A document released at the end of October by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) shows that contributions to EU programmes, largely referring to Horizon Europe, will drop off in 2026-27. 

This is in part “due to the assumed impact of the UK’s automatic correction mechanism as part of the UK’s association agreement to Horizon Europe,” the document, first reported by Research Professional News, says. 

“It’s exactly as expected,” said Martin Smith, head of the policy lab at the Wellcome Trust, the UK medical research charity. “The UK knew after the hiatus [of exclusion from the programme] it would take a while to bounce back,” he told Science|Business.

However, both sides acknowledge that more data needs to come through on the UK’s performance before a clawback is confirmed, or how much it will be. 

“Any forecasts being indicated by other organisations are speculative as the relevant data is not yet available,” said a European Commission official. “The application of the correction mechanism will be performed in 2026 by the Commission.”

In a statement, a DSIT spokesperson said that "like every other country associated to Horizon, we contribute a proportionate amount into the programme. This amount will naturally fluctuate year to year for several reasons.” 

Winning 60-70%

In 2023, London and Brussels finally struck a deal for the UK to association to Horizon, after the EU had blocked the UK from joining due to higher-level disputes over the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland.

British researchers were finally able to fully participate in 2024, with the UK government launching various publicity campaigns to get the country fully back into the programme. 

Related articles

• UK at 60-70% of past performance in Horizon collaborations, says Russell Group
• How the UK and EU did a deal over Horizon Europe

UK scientists appear to have quickly re-engaged with the European Research Council (ERC) after being blocked for three years. In July, UK-based academics won 56 ERC Advanced Grants, ahead of Germany, which won 35. The ERC is based on individual applications, and so UK researchers don’t need to rebuild their EU partnerships to apply. 

However, rejoining the pan-European consortia that receive the bulk of Horizon Europe’s money has proven tricker. In July this year, the UK’s Russell Group of large research universities estimated that the UK was winning just 60-70% of the collaborative research grants it brought in under the previous programme. 

The UK’s clawback won’t technically mean money is sent from Brussels to London, said Smith. Instead, it will be deducted from future years’ payments by the UK.