Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 2008/376/EC on the adoption of the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel and on the multiannual technical guidelines for this programme

After the expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty in 2012 and under a Protocol annexed to the EU Treaties, the European Member States established the new “Research Fund for Coal and Steel” (RFCS) and transferred all remaining assets of the (expired) ECSC to this new fund.

The RFCS Programme provides annually around €50m of R&D and Innovation funding to both coal and steel sectors (with a distribution of 27.2% for coal and 72.8% for steel) bringing together industrial partners, SMEs, leading research centres and universities across the European Union to develop knowledge and foster innovation.

It covers production processes, utilisation and conservation of resources, environmental improvements and safety at work in sectors related to the coal and steel industry. The Programme is funded by the EU general budget with the revenues generated by the remaining assets of the (expired) ECSC. It is managed by and under the responsibility of the Commission.

The legal basis laying down the management rules of the RFCS was adopted by the Council in 2003 and has already been revised in 2008. It provides for systematic periodical reassessments of the programme’s relevance and of the effectiveness of its management rules (multiannual technical guidelines).

The purpose of this proposal is to amend the legal basis of the RFCS programme after the periodical assessment of its management rules with a view to implement the following objectives:
- Ensuring a transparent management of a programme funded by the EU general budget and under the responsibility of the Commission with the implementation of the rules of the Commission concerning expert groups;
- Facilitating access to funding for beneficiaries with simplified rules and through a proportionate alignment with the rules of the general research programme ‘Horizon 2020’ with which Coal and Steel stakeholders are familiar;
- Updating the provisions referred to in the legal basis concerning in particular comitology.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)75: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:075:FIN

---