Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that researchers in the UK have access to future EU research funding framework programmes after the UK leaves the EU.

The UK has a long history of being an important collaborator with and contributor to EU Framework Programmes, including the current Research and Innovation Programme, Horizon 2020.

As we move beyond the current programme, the Government remains committed to creating mutually beneficial opportunities for collaboration with European and international partners. The UK has played a constructive role in the development of the next EU R&I Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, and it is our preference to associate to Horizon Europe if the conditions are right. The Programme must be fully open to third countries and represent value for money for the UK. As a responsible Government, we are also developing a credible and ambitious alternative UK offer.