So it's LEAVE.
I will be upfront here – I
think this will be a disaster for the UK across a range of areas – ranging from
reinforcing a nationalist and isolationist tendency in the age of globalisation
which will result in the UK being left behind by larger and more powerful
trading blocs and countries, through to negative impacts on opportunities for
European collaboration and funding. There is a huge question mark over
the future of the UK, and it is not completely fanciful to say that the Leave
result could lead to the breakup of the UK – both Scotland and NI voted to
remain in the EU.
But I want to use this
newsletter to provide a
brief overview of the practical implications for those interested in developing
partnerships and applications for EU funding.
Firstly, in theory, the UK will continue to be eligible
to be able to lead, or be a partner in, applications for EU funding
– whether for Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, Europe for Citizens and Creative Europe –
and this will certainly continue until the end of the 2 year period that will
be triggered when the UK government invokes Article 50 – which at the moment
seems likely to be sometime in the autumn. It is possible that there
could be agreement for the UK to be eligible until the final deadlines in 2019
for the current round of these programmes (the current funding round ends in
2020). The UK will also continue to distribute its share of the EU
Structural & Investment Funds via DCLG & the LEPs in England, and the
various designated agencies and partners in the devolved nations and regions of
the UK.
Beyond 2019/2020, however, this is likely to all change, and will be based on which of the several options is the
one chosen by the UK for its formal relationship with the EU. There are
two clear options and a range of possible alternatives yet to be fully
explored.
The first option is for the UK to be a Norway type member. If this option is pursued, then things might not
change very much – Norway is eligible to apply as a lead partner or
co-organiser for most trans-national funds, for example. However, this is
because Norway is an official member of the single market and pays roughly the
same per head as does the UK for the privilege – and also accepts the freedom
of movement of EU workers. The problem here is that this is not the sort
of post Brexit UK that has been voted for by those who voted to leave. So
a Norway type arrangement seems unlikely.
The other option is that the UK is completely independent from the
EU with no arrangements or agreements
of any sort – like Russia (!). There are virtually no other European
countries that have no “arrangements” with the EU – Norway, Iceland,
Liechtenstein and even Switzerland are members of either EFTA or the EEA, and
the Balkan countries and Turkey have committed to joining the EU one day and
are therefore classified as “candidate” countries – there are even agreements
of one sort or another between the EU and Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. A
fully independent UK would mean that UK organisations could only participate in
EU funding programmes as a “third country” associate partner, on the same basis
as Israel, the USA, Colombia, Australia, Thailand, etc.
There could be options between these extremes, but it seems likely that almost any of these would mean
the UK either paying a contribution or signing up to commitments that those who
voted leave have rejected, so it is difficult at this stage to see the new
arrangement being anywhere as open to the UK as it is currently.
Another obvious impact will be
the UK's eligibility to be European
Capital of Culture - it's next turn is 2023 and several UK
cities have already begun their campaigns. It is difficult to see how
this invitation can stand if the UK is not an EU member after 2018/19/20 – and
though there have been non EU cities as capitals of culture in the past (e.g.
Bergen in Norway, or Istanbul in Turkey), these have been in countries who are
part of the single market or official candidate countries – the UK will be
neither of these.
In the broader context,
there will be implications on visa free travel (gone), reciprocal healthcare
arrangements (most likely gone), tax arrangements when touring (more
complicated, at the very least), etc, etc. The UK's interactions with the
EU will be similar to those with the rest of the world – possible but less
easy. Many (larger) arts and cultural organisations will cope as they
currently already manage international touring and collaborations – but for
many smaller and middle scale organisations, and individual artists, the impact
will mean fewer opportunities and more complicated arrangements.
There is the bigger picture
too – we now live in a globalised world – the UK is a member of around 60
pan-national or international bodies (all of which are far less democtratic
than the EU) as any country needs such memberships and relationships in order
to function. No country (with the possible exception of North Korea)
exists without such memberships – and the financial contributions they levy,
and having to obey their rules and regulations. The idea that the UK can
somehow exist in glorious isolation from global relationships is a
mirage. To function outside the EU, the UK will spend the next 5-10 years
negotiating or renegotiating arrangements in a huge number of areas – with
results that in many cases will be more disadvantageous than those that applied
as a result of its membership of the EU.
I could write about the
genuine fears that many leave voters have about the impact of EU sanctioned
migration, and all the areas where the EU could do things better (or more
cheaply) but all that is now irrelevant – the UK no longer has any seat at the
EU table and thus no influence on any changes to the way it works. In
fact, the EU may well face further challenges from disgruntled citizens across
other member states who also feel they would be better off out of it.
The UK's challenge is to find
a new way in the world. The tragedy is that this new way may well be less
successful than the way we have been heading, and will certainly be in the
context of an isolationist and nationalist mentality that seems to me to be at
odds with the way the world is evolving.
Hey ho. Of course, one
has to note that we have (so far) decided to leave the EU – the UK is still in Eurovision. If
one is really scraping the barrel to find the silver lining, I note that the
collapse of the pound in the last few days has meant that a 200,000 euro grant
from the EU has now increased in value to the UK by around £20-25,000…
In the meantime, my show, “Knowing EU” is on at
16.05 from 5-27 August at the Edinburgh Fringe – though maybe I will rename it
“(it's been good)
Knowing EU”. The fact that these performances will be in Scotland, which voted
overwhelmingly to remain (which could trigger a further independence referendum
– and the breakup of the UK) will mean I have plenty of material to work with –
though the jokes may take on a slightly more nihilistic flavour….
If you're interested, you can book tickets for this show via www.edfringe.com -
just search for “Knowing EU”.
Euclid will continue to run seminars on EU funding opportunities
(7 July in London & 13 July in Manchester – see www.euclid.info) and offer advice and guidance to those
developing applications – our success rate for those we advised
for the 2015 Creative Europe Culture sub-programme deadline was 43% - compared
to a 10% success rate of the other applications.
If anyone would like to
discuss any of the above, please email me, geoffrey@euclid.info.
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