EU proposes extension to no-deal funding arrangement

The European Commission has proposed extending to the end of 2020 an arrangement under which the UK might continue to remain eligible for European Union research funding in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

If the European Parliament and member state governments in the Council of the EU agree to the proposal, which was made on 4 September, it would extend an arrangement for 2019 that the EU agreed to in July.

Under this existing arrangement, UK entities would be able to receive EU funding awarded before the country leaves the bloc—including through the Horizon 2020 research programme and the Erasmus+ mobility scheme—even if no broader Brexit deal is struck. But it would cover at most a period of just two months, with the UK due to leave the EU on 31 October. The proposed extension would run until the end of 2020.