Following statements in January 2020 by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, that the United Kingdom will continue to participate in Erasmus+ post-Brexit, the European University Association (EUA) issued a new briefing note – Brexit – what now for universities?. The briefing outlines what has already been agreed on the future relationship between the European Union (EU) and the UK – mainly though the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration.

The Withdrawal Agreement clarifies, amongst others, that UK will continue to pay, post 31 January 2020, to the EU what was agreed in 2013 for the 2014-2020 long-term EU budget. Specifically, this means that the UK government will continue to pay into programmes such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ until the projects end, and that UK entities can participate in these programmes until they end. The two running programmes will continue as planned, with projects awarded until the end of the programme and being funded for their whole duration.

Under the Political Declaration, which covers the ambitions for the future relationship, the EU and the UK plan to first negotiate an “umbrella agreement” that sets the basis for the participation of the UK in EU programmes in general, and then to eventually negotiate individual association agreements, e.g. to Horizon Europe and the Erasmus 2021-2027 programmes. The timeline for these negotiations depends though on many factors, including on the overall MFF negotiations.

EUA