BREXIT: UK Treasury to guarantee EU infrastructure, university funding agreed before Autumn Statement

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Projects agreed before this year's Autumn Statement under the four main competitive EU structural and investment funding schemes will be fully funded, even where these projects continue past the date of 'Brexit', while guaranteed funding for projects agreed after this date will be assessed on a case by case basis, according to the announcement.

The Treasury will also underwrite the costs of direct funding from the European Commission granted to UK projects while the UK remains a member of the EU, including funding granted to universities under the Horizon 2020 scheme, the chancellor has confirmed. This funding will also be guaranteed even if the project will run beyond the date of Brexit, according to the announcement.

Philip Hammond, the new chancellor, said that his first major policy announcement would give UK businesses and universities the certainty that they needed to continue to bid for UK funding.

"The UK will continue to have all of the rights, obligations and benefits that membership brings, including receiving European funding, up until the point we leave the EU," he said.

"We recognise that many organisations across the UK which are in receipt of EU funding, or expect to start receiving funding, want reassurance about the flow of funding they will receive. That is why I am confirming that structural and investment funds projects signed before the Autumn Statement and Horizon research funding granted before we leave the EU will be guaranteed by the Treasury after we leave," he said.

The government also intends to match the current subsidy levels provided to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Pillar 1 from the date the UK leaves the EU until 2020, by which time it will have established "new domestic arrangements", Hammond said.

The structural and investment funding commitments provided by the government cover funding awards under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (CAP Pillar 2); the European Social Fund; the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund; and the European Regional Development Fund including European Territorial Cooperation. Projects awarded funding through any of these schemes before this year's Autumn Statement will have that money guaranteed; while the Treasury will "put in place arrangements for assessing" whether funding should be guaranteed for projects agreed after the Autumn Statement but before Brexit.

The same assurances have been extended to the devolved administrations in relation to EU funding for projects that they administer, according to the Treasury. It said that it would "work closely with the devolved administrations on subsequent funding arrangements to allow them to prioritise projects within their devolved responsibilities".

Project funding awarded under Horizon 2020 before the UK leaves the EU will be guaranteed until the particular project concludes, even if this is after Brexit. Horizon 2020 is the EU's €80 billion research and innovation programme, and the UK currently receives the second largest share of funding out of all of the participating countries.

Universities UK, the lobby group for UK higher education, said that the government's announcement would provide "much-needed stability" to universities; and provide "an important signal to European researchers that they can continue to collaborate with their UK colleagues as they have before".

"We hope that the government will now move quickly to address the uncertainty amongst EU students considering applying to British universities by confirming that those beginning courses before we exit the EU will be subject to current fees levels and financial support arrangements for the duration of their course," said Alistair Jarvis, the group's deputy chief executive.