Association has been blocked by the Commission because of wider dissatisfaction with the UK over London’s move to unilaterally scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Commission has declared that likeminded countries need to stick together in the aftermath of the war.ĭespite this talk of democratic unity on research, there was no breakthrough in Frankfurt yesterday in talks between London and Brussels on UK association to Horizon. The war has also spurred the EU to accelerate the association of Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to Horizon Europe. More recently, after months of debate, the US announced it would “wind down” government-to-government research collaboration with Russia, although universities are free to make their own decisions. The invasion of Ukraine triggered an unprecedented wave of scientific sanctions against Russia from Europe, with institutional ties severed. In Europe, Brussels and member states have cooled on China as a scientific partner as Beijing is increasingly seen as a rival that does not share scientific knowledge equally. However, there is some evidence that joint papers between China and the US have dropped off since 2016, due to geopolitical tensions, the controversial US prosecutions of Chinese scientists, and the pandemic, although links with Europe have remained strong. There are growing attempts by governments to interfere with science, and to “misuse the open science ecosystem for their own ends,” warned Stark-Watzinger.ĭespite the minister’s comments, China remains a key scientific partner for both the EU and US, and there are no plans for the G7 democracies – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US – to cut it out of research collaboration. What this means in practice is the creation of a toolkit and “virtual academy” to advance research freedom, scientific integrity and security among academics in the G7. “We stand together in unity and acknowledge that respecting freedom in scientific research is an indispensable cornerstone of democracy and a common core value for trustful and open science cooperation with international partners,” the ministers said in a joint statement. Promoting academic freedom, integrity and security is top of a list of three priorities agreed by G7 ministers. “We must all be more alert in our engagement with authoritarian states like China,” and “critically check” research links with such countries, she said at a press conference following the meeting yesterday. “We must not only maintain but strengthen cooperation with countries that share our values: democracy, human rights and trust in science,” said Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Germany’s education and research minister. The declaration, made after G7 science ministers met in Frankfurt in the run up to the summit of G7 leaders in late June, mirrors rhetoric from the EU, which is seeking to bring other democracies including Japan, New Zealand, Canada and South Korea into its Horizon Europe research programme. The G7 group of countries have emphasised that freedom and democracy are the basis for scientific exchange, in the latest sign that they are looking to cooperate with likeminded countries and dial down partnerships with autocracies like China.
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