The European Union is blocking the UK from its flagship research programme because it does not “trust” the British Government after its threats to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Non-EU countries Georgia, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia were all granted associate membership of  Horizon Europe on Tuesday. The UK’s associate membership of the £77bn programme was agreed during last year’s Brexit negotiations but has still not been formalised. 

A European Commission spokesman told The Telegraph: “The UK’s association to Horizon Europe and other EU programmes will be finalised in due course. This requires a level of trust that the attached conditions will be complied with.”

Senior government sources have accused the EU of “going slow” to exert leverage in ongoing talks over the protocol, which created the Irish Sea border. They claim the process of formalising membership should have begun in May.

EU sources said that the delay was retaliation for British threats to unilaterally override the protocol by triggering Article 16. Brussels says that would break the treaty and international law.

In November, The Telegraph revealed Government plans to walk away from Horizon Europe in early 2022, unless membership was granted soon.

The UK is due to contribute £15 billion to the seven-year programme, £2.1 billion annually, to maintain access for British scientists and researchers to pan-European projects and funding.

In a sign of frustration with Brussels, the paper said work should begin even though the “programme benefits cannot be fully replicated in domestic alternatives” and withdrawing “would impact the ambition to become a science superpower”.

Protocol talks continue this week and now appear almost certain to stretch into the new year.  A deal on the supply of medicines to the province is close but Lord Frost wants more progress on cutting customs checks on British goods exported to Northern Ireland.

British companies and universities can still pitch for the lucrative contracts but associate membership must be granted by the time the money is to be paid out if they are to get the funding. 

In November, the EU research community wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging her to finalise UK membership or risk undermining the programme.

The letter was signed by more than 1,000 universities and thousands of European researchers.