UK needs EEA-style arrangement, academy says

The British Academy has said that belonging to an arrangement similar to the European Economic Area (EEA) would be the best option for UK higher education and research after the country leaves the European Union.

In its submission to the House of Commons Education Committee’s inquiry on Brexit and higher education, published on 11 November, the academy said that EU research funding programmes were important but they were not the only issue at stake. There are other forms of EU collaboration and funding that the UK does not replicate, including the European Research Council, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the Erasmus+ programme and the European Investment Bank.

Either full access to these initiatives should be maintained or new UK-based versions should be created, the response said, which is why the academy’s preferred outcome is for an EEA-style arrangement.