Horizon deal means ‘really great day’ for Europe, says UK minister

Science minister George Freeman sets out detail of UK’s bespoke deal to access EU scheme

The UK’s science minister George Freeman has said that the country’s full association with the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme sends “a signal” that the UK is ready to engage more positively with the rest of Europe.

Addressing a meeting of university vice-chancellors in Manchester via video link, Freeman (pictured, at an earlier event) said that confirmation that a long-awaited deal had been done meant it was a “really great day” for research across the continent—but he acknowledged that there was frustration that the deal had taken so long to materialise.