The UK and the EU: our work to support researchers and people affected by cancer
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Health and science are global. Collaboration between the UK and other countries enables the discoveries that benefit everyone. As the world’s largest independent funder of cancer research, we remain committed to the collective effort in beating cancer. We all win when science wins. It’s a cause that unites people across the world.
That’s why we worked hard to inform the Brexit negotiations, to represent the interests of our researchers and people with cancer. We’ve been following progress closely ever since. We were delighted when the UK and EU agreed that the UK would associate to Horizon Europe from 1 January 2024. But we feel the UK-EU relationship should do more for people affected by cancer. We’ll continue to work hard to ensure cancer patients in the UK and across the EU are prioritised in talks about the future relationship.
What people affected by cancer need from the new UK-EU relationship
During 2023 and 2024, we asked people affected by cancer and our scientific community what they need from the future UK-EU relationship. We’ll publish the results in 2024 and share them with other health and research organisations. We will speak to the UK Government and EU institutions on behalf of our communities to make sure the voices of our communities are heard.
We worked with the Hatch consultancy at the University of Southampton to understand researchers’ views in more detail. And we sought expert external review. These interviews, focus groups, surveys, consultations, reviews and further conversations provided the evidence for our policy calls.
Our blog and policy report set out the ambitions we would like to see from the UK Government, working in partnership with the EU.
Cancer Research UK 2025 full policy report: “Nothing should stand in the way”: Enhancing the UK-EU relationship to support global collaboration in cancer research and care
Cancer Research UK 2025 summary policy report: “Nothing should stand in the way”: Enhancing the UK-EU relationship to support global collaboration in cancer research and care
Appendix 1 Cancer Research UK online researchers’ online survey 2023
Appendix 2 Cancer Research UK Patient Involvement Network online survey 2023
Hatch (University of Southampton) and Cancer Research UK 2025 Everything's harder" but "the spirit of science is still there": Understanding how the new UK-EU relationship affects global collaboration in cancer research and care [Full reportl]
We’ll publish the results in 2024 and share them We’re sharing our findings and recommendations with the UK Government, EU institutions with and other health and research organisations. We will speak to the UK Government and EU institutions on behalf of our communities to make sure the voices of our communities are heard.
Background:
In 2020, we published a short report on our priorities ahead of the “Brexit deal”. See more in our report.
We still want to make sure that patients can access the latest treatments as quickly as possible (including through clinical trials), that scientists can collaborate easily, and that the UK continues to be a desirable destination for world-leading researchers.
So we must continue to explore how the new UK-EU relationship can best work for people affected by cancer and researchers, and be as ambitious as possible. We can demonstrate the impact of changes in areas where our communities must continue to adapt. And we can show the UK Government and the EU what is most important to people affected by cancer and the scientists who are working so hard to bring families better and kinder treatments.
Scientists have greater impact when they collaborate globally.
A 2017 report funded by eight leading UK medical research funders and charities identified some of the main ways in which UK research contributes to medical progress. It highlighted the benefit this has delivered for EU science, and ultimately how this has improved the health of patients across the EU.
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