Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 134
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Universities and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
It is currently unclear how much influence the UK will have over Horizon Europe. The Declarations agreed between the UK and EU as part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement state that the UK “shall participate as an associated country in all parts of the Horizon Europe programme”, and that UK “entities may participate in direct actions of the Joint Research Centre”316 (the EU Commission’s science and knowledge service), but “without voting rights”.317 In addition, the EU Commission’s guidance note on UK participation in Horizon Europe states that the EU is able to exclude the UK from elements of Horizon Europe: In duly justified exceptional cases for actions related to Union strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security, Horizon Europe work programmes may provide that the participation can be limited to those legal entities established in Member States only, or, to those legal entities established in specified associated or other third countries in addition to Member States. Moreover, for duly justified and exceptional reasons, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, the work programme may also exclude the participation of legal entities established in the Union or in associated countries directly or indirectly controlled by non-associated third countries or by legal entities of nonassociated third countries from individual calls, or make their participation subject to conditions set out in the work programme.318 311 Wellcome, Why the UK should associate to Horizon Europe (November 2019), p 1 312 European University Association, ‘European University Association and Universities UK International’s common statement on the EU-UK agreement’, accessed 25 January 2021 313 Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows (USC0013) para 16 314 Q177 315 Q269 316 HM Government, EU-UK Declarations (24 December 2020), p 18 317 HM Government, EU-UK Declarations (24 December 2020), p 18 318 European Commission, Q&A on the U
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), 28 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 28 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out continued work with the devolved administrations and existing UK-wide policies on international students, immigration, research funding and talent, and states it will submit a response to the earlier Immigration and Scotland report "shortly".
- On the Turing Scheme, it confirmed funding for three years, including "£110 million for the 2022/23 Academic Year". It states the scheme "prioritises pupils, students and learners over staff and inward mobility funding", and says the first year's impact will be evaluated.
- On Erasmus+, it states that President Von Der Leyen "has previously confirmed that association by part of a country is not legally possible".
- On UKRI, it states that Board appointees "are not recruited to represent any constituency, sector or regional grouping", while a legal requirement to have regard to research conditions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is taken into account. It says Research England's place on the Executive Committee reflects its status as a legal component of UKRI.
- On visa costs, it states that "UK visa fees are broadly in line with our competitors" and that it will "continue to keep visa fees under review".