Seething Eurocrats last night accused Britain of acting like ‘toddlers’ after No 10 drew up plans to withhold £15billion in funding to the bloc.
In the midst of increasingly hostile relations to Brussels, yesterday’s leaked memo showed that the Government was working on plans to severe all ties with three EU-funded research programmes.
Ministers believe EU officials are stalling the UK’s participation in the bloc’s flagship science projects so they can be used as leverage over Northern Ireland.
Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s Brexit enforcer, will hold talks with Brexit minister Lord Frost on Friday after a week of discussions. He threatened to start a trade war with the UK last week, if it triggered Article 16
Talks about technical details of the Northern Ireland protocol will resume later in the day. This effectively puts the province at the mercy EU red tape.
But last night EU officials were engaged in a war of words with Downing Street over the threat to pull out of the bloc’s £77billion scientific, satellite and nuclear programmes.
A diplomat from the EU dismissed any suggestion that such threats would have any influence over protocol negotiations.
‘It seems the UK is always testing our limits, much in the same way that toddlers do,’ a source said.
According to the memo, ministers are planning to leave EU research programs Horizon Europe, Copernicus, and Euratom if there is no solution for Northern Ireland.
Talks about technical details of the Northern Ireland protocol will resume later in the day. This effectively puts the province under EU red tape. Above, you can see a road that crosses the border
British taxpayers are set to pay £2.1billion a year to stay in the seven-year programme as agreed under the Brexit deal.
British universities then use the funds for research projects.
According to the memo, reported by The Sunday Telegraph, government departments have been told to prepare ‘alternatives to each programme’.
Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s Brexit enforcer, will hold talks with Brexit minister Lord Frost on Friday after a week of discussions.
He threatened to start a trade war with the UK last week if Article 16 was activated by the UK, a clause that permits one side of the Northern Ireland Protocol to suspend the agreement.
The European Commission refused to comment.