Result of the General Election
The Conservative Party won a large majority in yesterday’s general election and will form a new government with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. The Conservative government is now set to move forward with its approach to Brexit, as well as its wider legislative programme.
The renegotiated Withdrawal Agreement Bill will be reintroduced to Parliament next week and will likely be approved by both the UK and EU Parliaments by the 31 January 2020 Brexit deadline. While this means the UK would have formally left the EU there will be a transition period until at least 31 December 2020. During this period, there will be no changes to UK access to EU programmes (such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+) and free movement will continue as it does currently while negotiations over our long-term relationship with the EU take place.
What this means for Imperial
The College is keen to communicate that Imperial will always be a European university. Our European partners are vital to the future success of our institution and the UK as a whole, and the College will continue to lobby for access to European research networks and immigration reforms to allow research to thrive. This will include advocating for full association to the Horizon Europe scheme, European Research Council grants and Marie Sklodowska-Curie grants.
The Conservative manifesto committed to “continue to collaborate internationally with the EU on scientific research” and the College will work to ensure this remains a priority in any negotiation, accompanied by an immigration system which recognises the immense contribution our staff from the European Economic Area (EEA) at all levels make to teaching and research across our campuses.
What you should do as an Imperial student
In the coming months, EEA students who have not done so already should apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, which will allow any citizens resident in the UK before 31 December 2020 to seek settled (or pre-settled) status. This will allow EEA citizens to remain in the UK after our withdrawal from the EU, and after any transition period following this. More detail about the scheme can be found in College's EU Settlement Scheme FAQs.
EEA students already on undergraduate or postgraduate courses, or who start in 2020-21, will be eligible for home fee status and financial support for the full duration of their course.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this please get in touch at brexit.advice@imperial.ac.uk. Regular updates will continue to appear on the College’s Imperial and the European Union webpages, and you can find further information there.
