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LONDON (AFP) – The United Kingdom has initiated a dispute procedure against the European Union (EU) enshrined in the post-Brexit agreement to denounce its exclusion from community research programmes.
This is the first time the UK has launched this type of measure against the European Union since its exit from the bloc.
The British government said in a statement late on Tuesday that it had taken the measures “set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the United Kingdom and the European Union to resolve disputes” between them.
He explained that this measure was taken after “continuous delays” in accessing EU scientific programmes.
The government added that the UK had negotiated access to these programs in 2020 but that Brussels “still refused to finalize” their inclusion in the academic programme.
Among the programs that were excluded were Horizon Europe, a leading research funding mechanism, the nuclear regulator Euratom and the Copernicus satellite monitoring group, they also denounced.
The British government confirmed that it had sent a letter to the European Commission to start dispute settlement procedures and that it expected “constructive participation”.
“The European Union is in clear breach of our agreement and repeatedly seeks to politicize vital scientific cooperation by denying access to these important programmes,” said Secretary of State Liz Truss.
London said that if they remain excluded, it has “an alternative set of programs in place to support British scientists and researchers”.
These formal consultation mechanisms were provided to resolve disputes in the post-Brexit agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).
The British government made the controversial decision to abandon the European student exchange program Erasmus after Brexit, and launched its own program called Turing.
European Commission spokesman Daniel Ferry said on Tuesday that the EU had not yet received formal notification of the start of these dispute procedures.
He also indicated that the Commission would follow up on the issue, but that there were “serious difficulties”, because the post-Brexit agreement does not obligate the EU to make the UK a partner in these programmes, nor does it give it a specific deadline. Let’s do it.
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© 2022 AFP
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