Presentation about the state of play of Brexit negotiation in Higher Education and Research

2. Brexit – what is in the cards? The
Brussels perspective
Dr Thomas Jorgensen
European University Association
7 June 2017 EUA Webinar

3. EUA’s position on Brexit
• UK universities will always be part of the European
family (24 June)
• “we will work together to ensure that the long-
standing research and exchange relationships
between Europe's universities continue”
 statement signed by 24 Rectors’ Conferences and EUA President 22
July
• Association agreements are a possible solution – EUA
Fact sheet 8 September
• UK participation in research collaboration and student
mobility are central for Europe as a whole – EUA Fact
sheet 1 December

4. What we know about the negotiations – Phase 1
• Negotiation guidelines work with two phases
• Phase 1: Citizens’ rights, settlement of accounts, Irish
Border
 Citizens’ rights – highly important to UK universities, as it concerns students and
staff
• The demands from EU27 and EU Parliament are very tough: Same rights for
everyone born before UK leaves (including university fees), guaranteed by
the European Court of Justice
• UK researchers going to the EU will be covered by a special directive already
in place
 Settlement of accounts
• Methodology for calculation is
part of the negotiations
• Probably includes continuous
payments to Horizon 2020 and
Erasmus+ (small part of global
amount)
• We do not know very much
 Irish Border – important for those in
the area

5. Phase 2
• Phase 2 is much more open: Agreement for an orderly
withdrawal
“an overall understanding on the framework for the future relationship should be
identified during a second phase of the negotiations” (Negotiation Guidelines)
 Likely mostly trade
• Dependent on ‘sufficient progress’ in Phase 1
• Declared goal is minimal disruption
 For participation in for example H2020 and E+, the guidelines state:
“Similarly, it may affect those who ... take part in EU-funded programmes
based on the assumption of continued British EU membership. Negotiations
should seek to prevent a legal vacuum once the Treaties cease to apply to the
United Kingdom and, to the extent possible, address uncertainties.”
 This is open for interpretation, but not over-interpretation. It is about the legal
structure

6. What more do we know?
• Association agreements to H2020
and E+ are possible today
 If negotiations broke down tomorrow there would
still be a legal basis for association to the
programmes
• Will this be part of the
negotiations?
 Research and (less) higher education have been
mentioned in several speeches. It has not been
forgotten
 Michel Barnier: “One option is that the UK could decide to continue to support
university networking and joint projects as a third country after Brexit.
But this would require a different legal and financial framework.
I do not expect negotiations to bring clarity on these and a plethora of other
issues in the immediate future.
We first need to tackle the rights of citizens and the orderly withdrawal of the
United Kingdom.”

7. What can we do?
• Continue to argue for association of the UK to future
programmes for research and student mobility
 Also at national level – Barnier does not decide, the member states and
European Parliament do
 At European level
• Keep working with the UK
 The UK is still the largest research power in Europe
 The UK is remaining in Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ at least until formal Brexit
(probably April 2019)
 No reason to a priori discard UK partners – be rational about the risks
 UK government has given guarantees to the financial part of H2020 projects
• Hope for the best

8. Want to know more?
http://www.eua.be/policy-representation/higher-education-policies/brexit-and-
european-higher-education

9. …9…
Thank you for your attention