Stalled trade deal sours Australia’s Horizon Europe agreement

Australian universities’ excitement at securing a foothold in the world’s biggest research funding scheme risks being underminded by a domestic row over a free trade pact with the European Union.

Canberra has signed an agreement to associate with Horizon Europe, giving antipodean researchers direct access to pillar II of the €95.5 billion (£78.7 billion) scheme from January. “The big challenges facing Australia and the world cannot be solved by any one country working alone,” said science minister Tim Ayres, who finalised the deal with the EU’s commissioner for startups, research and innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, during a signing ceremony in Brussels.

“This agreement…will open doors for Australian researchers and businesses to lead projects, build global partnerships and compete for funding through the world’s largest multinational research and innovation funding programme.”

Pillar II funds collaborative research projects addressing societal challenges related to climate, energy, health, food, space and the digital world. It accounts for some 56 per cent of the budget of Horizon Europe’s current phase, which concludes next year.

The next phase, commencing in 2028, will be substantially bigger with a potential budget of at least €175 billion.

Monash University vice-chancellor Sharon Pickering said it was “absolutely critical” for Australia to sign up to the current tranche.

“It helps us shape up into that next one,” Pickering said. “That’s really important…to position our research and innovation as strongly as possible for the future.”

However, the signing took place against a backdrop of uncertainty over the future of Australia’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU. The agreement, signed by the two parties in March after almost eight years of negotiations, still requires parliamentary approval.

The opposition National Party has vowed to oppose the FTA, saying it over-commits Australia on climate action while underdelivering for farmers. The senior member of the opposition coalition, the Liberal Party, is yet to declare its position on the FTA.

The Australian Greens, the other party with enough Senate seats to pass the legislation, is also undecided. The EU has warned that the FTA will not be renegotiated if federal parliament rejects it, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Pickering said she hoped that would not happen. “This is absolutely the time to double down on enduring and trusted partnerships,” she said. “We cannot be locked out of the most important international opportunities for our research [and] innovation.”

While a stalled FTA would not scuttle Australia’s involvement in Horizon Europe, it would undermine provisions to make collaborations easier. Cecilia Hewlett, Monash’s pro vice-chancellor for Europe, said the FTA included clauses allowing European researchers to spend up to 12 months in Australia, and Australian researchers to spend up to nine months in Europe.

Obtaining business visas for extended stays “can be quite difficult and expensive”, Hewlett said. “The FTA [would make] life easier…as we get more and more embedded in Horizon projects. We’re talking about a scheme that’s all about relations, mobility and integration.”

The Group of Eight universities, which paid half of the roughly A$40 million (£20 million) fee for Australia to associate with Horizon Europe, said the research scheme went “hand in hand” with the FTA.  

“There is little point opening up research collaboration if we make it harder for the scientists, engineers and technical experts behind it to move between Australia and Europe,” said chief executive Vicki Thomson.

“Australia has fought for a seat at Europe’s research table. Now that we have it, we should be clearing the way – not putting up roadblocks.”

Thomson said the Horizon Europe deal “should be viewed as a launch pad, not a one-year experiment. Research partnerships need time and industry needs certainty.

“The task now is to establish Australia as an indispensable research and innovation partner for Europe over the long term, ensuring we remain part of Europe’s next research framework.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com