SCIENCE TODAY: CONCERN OVER BREXIT'S IMPACT ON SCIENCE

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Image captionWould leaving the EU affect the UK's influence at the top tables in science?

The UK science community draws vital benefits from EU membership and could lose influence in the event of an exit, says a House of Lords report.

But scientists in favour of leaving say the UK would still be eligible for EU funding along with other benefits if it became an associate member.

"Restrictive" regulations could block cutting-edge research, the peers said.

But UK researchers placed a high value on opportunities for collaboration afforded by EU membership, they added.

A number also believe the UK would lose its ability to influence EU science policy in the event of leaving - something pro-Brexit campaigners dispute.

"Nearly a fifth... 18.3% is the exact figure, of EU funds returning to this country go towards funding research and development," said Lord Selborne, chairman of the Lords Science and Technology Committee, adding that the UK did extremely well from the arrangement.

The Conservative peer, who supports a group campaigning to remain in, explained: "The overwhelming evidence from the scientific community was that they greatly valued EU membership, and they particularly drew attention to their success in attracting 'framework programme' funds."

But the peers found this was only true for UK universities; businesses, meanwhile, performed poorly in EU competitions for research funding.

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Image captionTotal funds awarded through the EU's Framework Programme 7

If it left, the UK could reinvest an amount equivalent to EU science funds into the national budget. But Lord Selborne said there would be other claims on the public purse, and one would need to be "extremely trusting" to expect the Treasury to match EU financing.

Alternatively, the UK could become an "associated country", of which there are currently 14 - including Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. These nations are not EU members but still participate in EU framework programme funding schemes.

A spokesperson for Scientists for Britain, which campaigns for the UK to leave, told BBC News: "The report refused to come down one way or another on remain or leave. We thought that was positive... just leaving would make no difference at all to our science relationship with the EU.

"It's fallacious and beyond the realms of possibility that we would leave the existing collaborations network."

He said associates had equal status with EU members and there was no evidence that the UK would lose influence if it left. Bilateral talks held between associate countries and the EU might even give them more bargaining power.

But Lord Selborne commented: "In the short term, there's a wide perception that the implications [of an EU exit] would be negative.

"The ability of associate members such as Switzerland and Norway to influence regulation, or the research agenda at the European level, is certainly diminished."

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Image captionParticipation in projects such as the Large Hadron Collider are not dependent on EU membership

The report says the ease with which talented researchers can move between the UK and the rest of the EU is of enormous benefit. It said every effort should be made to preserve this.

Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson commented: "Britain's success as a science powerhouse hinges on our ability to collaborate with the best minds from across Europe and the world.

"This report is further evidence that the UK's influential position would be diminished if we cut ourselves off from the rich sources of EU funding, the access to valuable shared research facilities and the flow of talented researchers that provide so many opportunities to our world-leading institutions."

The Scientists for Britain campaign said freedom of movement made it easy for academic departments to recruit from the EU, but visa restrictions on migrants from non-EU countries made it much more difficult to employ qualified candidates from Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Abandoning EU immigration rules would encourage a more even-handed approach, it believes.

The Lords report also heard evidence that some EU regulatory frameworks - particularly those governing clinical trials, the welfare of lab animals and data protection - had been a barrier to research carried in the UK.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36083736