Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

This file and the linked 2025/0390 (APP) are concerned with a necessary reform of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS).

When the treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) expired in 2002, the remaining ECSC assets were used to establish the RFCS. This was done because it had been levies on the coal and steel sectors which had funded the ECSC over its fifty-year life. Since 2002, interest on the fund has supported collaborative research and technological development linked to the competitiveness and clean transition of these sectors in line with among others the European Green Deal (EGD). Projects have ranged in size and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from academic research projects, in response to Annual Calls, to large, pilot-scale demonstrations of new technologies under so-called “Big Ticket” calls. Industry has benefited through the implementation of the new insights and innovative solutions, as well as indirectly from the thousands of scientists and engineers who have developed their skills and careers on these projects to deliver real-world solutions. In the case of coal-related research, projects are now focussed on post-mining issues such as land restoration, methane emission mitigation and new economic activities in line with a just transition. In the case of steel, there is the Clean Steel Partnership, established in response to the EGD, for decarbonisation/transformation of the sector alongside the existing projects focused on innovative steel products, enhancing competitiveness, durability, sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Change 1

ChangedProtocol No. 37 of the EU Treaty lays down requirements for the liquidation of the ECSC assets and management of the RFCS research programme by the European Commission. In 2021, the RFCS legal basis was amended in line with the Treaty to allow the sale of assets to supplement the revenue earned which had become too low to support a viable research programme. The resulting annual budget of €111 million is split between coal-related research (27.2%) and steel-related research (72.8%).

The RFCS is the only dedicated EU instrument providing sector-specific research funding for the coal and steel industries. Other frameworks, such as Horizon Europe, the Just Transition Fund, or the Innovation Fund, do not offer the same targeted alignment with the industrial realities of coal and steel industries.

The conclusion of the RFCS without a robust successor mechanism would create a critical gap in the EU’s financial architecture, undermining technological continuity in sectors of strategic importance. The Rapporteur considers that the phasing out of the fund must be contingent upon ensuring the technological resilience of coal and steel regions, mitigating the risks of deindustrialization during the green transition. The consequences of this are not abstract. The researchers, engineers and technicians whose work the RFCS sustains are not located in capital cities or technology hubs. They work in coal basins and steel valleys across Europe that now face the full weight of the green and industrial transitions simultaneously. These simultaneous transitions require investment in knowledge, in technology, in people and resources for these.

Change 2

ChangedIn respect of the latest amendments to the RFCS legal basis, as proposed by the European Commission in December 2025, the Council of the European Union has agreed a General Approach. It is recommended that the European Parliament supports this General Approach which defines a final phase of the RFCS during which the annual budget will be increased to €120 million to support RFCS research calls from 2027 until 2034. The RFCS research programme would then come to an end around 2038, having disbursed all the remaining assets. The amendments are in line with the European Steel and Metals Action Plan of March 2025. While acknowledging the proposed operational timeline, the European Parliament conditions its support on the optimization of capital disbursement during the final phase. It is imperative that the 2027–2034 funding cycle is directly calibrated toward the deployment of breakthrough technologies in regions facing the most acute structural dependencies and transformation pressures.

Change 3

ChangedSeveral other changes are proposed that will more closely align the management of the RFCS research programme with the Horizon Europe research programme, including on financial guarantees and increased funding rates to match Horizon Europe. In accordance with the provisions of this Protocol No.37, the assets of the RFCS shall be used exclusively for research, outside the research framework programme, in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry. Therefore, in the opinion of the European Parliament, the RFCS research programme should remain industry-led, and the European Commission should ensure that this is the case when evaluating proposals in response to future calls following this reform. The Parliament rejects the perceived trade-off between scientific excellence and the industrial revitalization of vulnerable regions. Sustaining European competitiveness requires geographical inclusivity; a strategy that concentrates resources within established technology hubs while neglecting the primary industrial base is both structurally inefficient and detrimental to the cohesion of the internal market.

Furthermore, the Rapporteur believes that the Commission should assess, before the final disbursement of RFCS assets, what type of a successor mechanism for sector-specific coal and steel research is necessary to prevent a permanent gap in support for regions that remain structurally dependent on these industries to ensure a future that is sovereign, resilient and offers good industrial jobs thus implementing the freedom to stay for the European citizens.

In the current geopolitical and economic landscape, defined by a global race for competitiveness, the imperative of industrial leadership, and shifting fiscal priorities, just transition strategies for coal and steel industries must evolve into comprehensive strategies for regional growth and industrial resilience. The viability of these industrial basins depends on their ability to transform structural challenges into competitive advantages. The RFCS plays a critical role in this transformation by providing the specific financial architecture required for large-scale pilot demonstrations and the deployment of new technologies that are essential for long-term economic security. Europe cannot demand a deep industrial transformation while withdrawing the very research instruments that make such a transition possible. The final chapter of this fund must honor its origins by investing in the innovation and people who will carry these regions from their industrial past into a competitive, low-carbon future.