Britain poised to rejoin EU flagship Horizon science program after Rishi Sunak gives green light to finalize a deal despite tensions over the price to be paid to return to the £85 billion research regime

Britain is poised to rejoin the EU’s Horizon science program after Rishi Sunak gave negotiators the green light to finalize a deal.

Britain has been absent from the bloc’s £85bn research regime for two years after Brexit, and there were fears talks would be thwarted over tensions over the price of entry.

But an official announcement is expected as early as tomorrow following “significant” progress in negotiations, a government source said. The issue had reportedly been in Mr Sunak’s mailbox for weeks as he haggled for higher amounts from the fund for British scientists so that they could catch up after the two-year absence.

It is clear that a number of minor issues still need to be resolved.

During the Prime Minister’s questions today, Mr Sunak told MPs his ‘priority and preference’ was to associate with Horizon, but ‘on terms that are good for the British taxpayer as well as for British science and research’.

During the Prime Minister’s questions today, Mr Sunak told MPs his ‘priority and preference’ was to associate with Horizon, but ‘on terms that are good for the British taxpayer as well as for British science and research’.

He hinted at a breakthrough, saying the government was “extensively involved in talks” with the EU. He added: “I hope to successfully complete this one.”

An agreement will allow close ties between Europe’s major research centers to resume after Britain was frozen out of the fund as Brexit tensions flared. News of a breakthrough has been welcomed by scientists, who have warned that the lack of a deal will damage Britain’s reputation in the life sciences.

They have complained that the exclusion from the program made it much more difficult to run European projects from Britain, risking a ‘brain drain’ and scientists moving abroad. Professor Robin Lovell-Badge of London’s Francis Crick Institute hailed the developments as ‘fantastic news’ and said he would ‘like’ to see the deal officially confirmed.

He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: ‘We really missed being able to work well with other European scientists. Of course the funds would benefit British science, but it is precisely that interaction that we miss so much.’

In a letter to The Times in July, Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute and Nobel laureate, said Horizon membership was ‘vital… to keep Britain at the forefront of world science’.

Cancer Research UK has called on ministers and the EU to reach an agreement, saying it is in the best interests of people affected by the disease.

Horizon is the main European research funding program that gives scientists access to substantial grants for research on issues such as climate change and cancer.