The UK denies the report of a deal ready to rejoin the EU’s Horizon science scheme

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) – UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office denied a BBC report that a deal had been brokered for Britain to rejoin the European Union’s Horizon scientific research program and was pending approval.

No agreement has been reached and talks are ongoing, the British government said.

The UK has been negotiating with the EU to rejoin Horizon after London and Brussels settled their dispute over post-Brexit trade rules governing Northern Ireland in February.

The BBC quoted “senior sources” as saying an agreement had been reached on how much funding the UK should provide and there are now two options for Sunak to consider associated membership.

“No agreement has been reached. As the EU itself has said, we are in talks about this,” Sunak’s spokesman told reporters, adding that the government wanted value for money.

“Those discussions have been constructive so far, but we continue to explore all options, including a UK-based option, which is the Pioneer alternative.”

Pioneer is a British research funding programme. announced in april in case talks about rejoining Horizon fail, although many British research scientists are eager to return to Horizon.

Reporting by Sarah Young; additional reporting by Alistair Smout; Edited by Christina Fincher and Devika Syamnath

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