U.K. Rejoins EU’s Research Funding Program in Sign of Brexit Thaw

livemint.com:

The U.K. is set to re-enter the European Union’s flagship scientific research program, according to two people familiar with discussions, the biggest step by the U.K. to tighten ties with the bloc since Brexit.

An announcement is expected as early as Thursday morning after months of negotiations between the two sides over how much Britain will pay to participate in the 95.5 billion euro, or about $102 billion, Horizon program, which funds research and innovation projects in the EU and beyond. U.K. and European universities had lobbied hard for Britain’s return.

The move is the latest sign that Britain and Europe are mending fences after years of friction over Brexit, a rapprochement that began with close collaboration over the Ukraine war. Britain is also hoping to boost its stagnant economy by reducing trade friction with the bloc, which it formally left in 2020. Relations have improved significantly under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which in February reached a deal with the EU to end a trade feud over Northern Ireland.

After that agreement, both sides said they would look for opportunities to deepen ties, including rejoining Horizon. A spokesman for the British prime minister pointed to Sunak’s statement earlier Wednesday to Parliament that he had been “extensively involved" in talks to resolve the Horizon issue. The efforts to make nice come as a narrow majority of the British public express remorse over having voted to leave the EU, as they struggle with high inflation and the prospect of years of low growth.

A YouGov poll in June showed that if a Brexit referendum were held today, 55% of Britons would vote to remain in the bloc. Back during the Brexit referendum in 2016, 52% voted to leave. Despite any