{"id":761492,"date":"2026-02-13T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/761492\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T09:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:53:11","slug":"uk-urged-to-negotiate-with-eu-over-scottish-energy-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/761492\/","title":{"rendered":"UK urged to negotiate with EU over Scottish energy funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The Herald reports that the UK Government has been told<\/a> by the union that British businesses are not eligible for the scheme in a move which Falkirk<\/a> East MSP Michelle Thomson has said puts Scotland at risk of falling behind in creating jobs and developing its energy infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n

\n On the verge of the Brexit referendum\u2019s 10th anniversary, the Prime Minister<\/a> is now being urged to consider negotiating with the EU for access to the funds and closer ties.\n<\/p>\n

\n The call has been made by the SNP<\/a>\u00a0after new data has shown that in the past two months Scotland has missed out on applying for a share of up to \u00a315.2bn worth of funding for energy and biotech programmes.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE:<\/strong> SNP call for full powers over Scotland’s rail network from Westminster<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n A range of different European funding schemes allow businesses in the EU27 to bid for billions of pounds worth of projects to support decarbonisation technologies, new energy systems, production of low-carbon hydrogen fuels, energy infrastructure and the mobilisation of the biotech sector.\n<\/p>\n

\n Last month, the EU stated it were open to a more open economic relationship with the UK, including the possibility of a customs union, but such a move was ruled out by the UK Government<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n Michelle Thomson, who\u2019s constituency covers the Grangemouth<\/a> industrial complex, told The Herald: \u201cEvery day that goes by, Scottish businesses are left at a competitive disadvantage compared to our EU neighbours \u2013 part of that is down to the fact we are missing out on funding opportunities.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cScotland<\/a> is the energy capital of Europe and has a high-quality biotech sector \u2013 access to this EU funding could do absolute wonders for our industries.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt is time for the UK Labour government to shed their ideological economic incompetence and work with the\u00a0Scottish Government<\/a>\u00a0to build closer ties to the EU and gain access to these vital funds again\n<\/p>\n

\n SNP MSP Michelle Thomson has called on the UK Government to negotiate closer ties with the EU (Image: PA Agency)\n<\/p>\n

\n The energy and bio-tech development funds are available to nations which are in the EU, as they have contributed to financing the streams. However, the UK has been able to negotiate arrangements to access other EU funding streams.\n<\/p>\n

\n The former Conservative government rejoined the EU’s flagship Horizon scientific research scheme enabling UK-based scientists and institutions to apply for money from the \u00a381bn fund.\n<\/p>\n

\n Since Britain confirmed its association with\u00a0Horizon in January last year, the UK Government has been providing support to help UK researchers and businesses secure funding from the \u00a380bn scheme.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Prime Minister has previously ruled out rejoining the EU or the customs union though is in favour of closer ties with the EU.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE:<\/strong> UK urged to speak out as Donald Trump ‘attempts forced starvation of innocent people’<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Chancellor\u00a0Rachel Reeves<\/a>\u00a0said on Wednesday that closer integration with the EU is the \u201cbiggest prize\u201d for Britain arguing that more alignment with the bloc \u201cis a political argument Labour can win\u201d and would help boost trade and make things easier for businesses and cheaper for consumers.\n<\/p>\n

\n Speaking at the London School of Economics, Ms Reeves said: \u201cThe biggest prize is clearly with the EU. The truth is, economic gravity is reality. Almost half of our trade is with the European Union<\/a>. We trade almost as much with the EU as the whole of the rest of the world combined.\n<\/p>\n

\n “There are three big trading blocs in the world \u2014 there\u2019s the US, there\u2019s China and there is Europe. We want to make Europe as strong as possible, and that means not putting up the drawbridge.”\n<\/p>\n

\n A UK Government spokeswoman told The Herald: “We are focused on delivering deals that could add up to \u00a39 billion a year to the UK economy, supporting producers and businesses, backing jobs, and putting more money in people\u2019s pockets across the entire country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new strategic partnership with the EU is in our national interest. It’s good for bills, good for our borders, and good for jobs, without compromising on our red lines\u2014no return to the customs union, no return to freedom of movement, and no re-joining the single market.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Herald reports that the UK Government has been told by the union that British businesses are not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-761492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116062720260894985","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}