(1)

The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community expired on 23 July 2002 in accordance with Article 97 of that Treaty. All assets and liabilities of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) were transferred to the Union on 24 July 2002.

(2)

In accordance with Protocol (No 37), the net worth of the assets and liabilities, as they appear in the balance sheet of the ECSC of 23 July 2002, is to be considered as assets intended for research in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry, referred to as the ‘ECSC in liquidation’, and, on completion of the liquidation, as the ‘assets of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel’.

(3)

Protocol (No 37) also provides that the revenue from those assets, referred to as the ‘Research Fund for Coal and Steel’ (RFCS), is to be used exclusively for research, outside the research framework programme, in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry in accordance with the provisions of Protocol (No 37) and of acts adopted on the basis thereof.

(4)

On 1 February 2003 the Council adopted Decision 2003/76/EC (2), which establishes the rules for implementing Protocol (No 37).

(5)

Due to the low interest-rate context, the revenues assigned for the funding of research projects for coal and steel are rapidly decreasing. This is leading to a situation where the critical minimum budget available for organising an annual call for proposals for the research programme of the RFCS (the ‘programme’) might not be met. A critical minimum budget for organising a call is necessary in order for the programme to provide meaningful support for worthwhile collaborative research projects that have the critical mass and Union added value for improving the sustainability, competitiveness, health, safety and working conditions, and reducing the environmental impact, in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry.

(6)

In its communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Green Deal, the Commission committed to support clean steel breakthrough technologies leading to near-zero-carbon steelmaking by 2030. To enable this, the Commission committed to explore whether part of the funding under the ECSC in liquidation could be used.

(7)

In its communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European Green Deal Investment Plan, the Commission took the view that, in order to meet Union targets, the revision of the RFCS legal bases was considered necessary in order to enable the use of the assets of the ECSC in liquidation and, on completion of the liquidation, the assets of the RFCS.

(8)

The sale of a share of the assets of the ECSC in liquidation and, on completion of the liquidation, the assets of the RFCS to finance research projects in the coal and steel sectors should be allowed on the condition that reserves be kept in order to guarantee the limited remaining obligations resulting from any unforeseeable liability and on the condition that a reasonable part of the assets which are no longer needed to guarantee those obligations be invested to generate revenues.

(9)

The sale of a share of the assets of the ECSC in liquidation and, on completion of the liquidation, the assets of the RFCS could be necessary to provide an annual allocation of EUR 111 million to the RFCS until 2027. That allocation will be used as follows: EUR 40 million per year will finance collaborative research in the coal and steel sectors and the remaining EUR 71 million will finance breakthrough technologies leading to near-zero-carbon steelmaking and research projects for managing the just transition of formerly operating coal mines or coal mines in the process of closing, and related infrastructure in line with the Just Transition Mechanism and in compliance with Article 4(2) of Decision 2003/76/EC. The possibility of selling a share of the assets of ECSC in liquidation and, on completion of the liquidation, the assets of the RFCS is limited to the funding of annual allocations for the financial years 2021–2027.

(10)

The RFCS should therefore be financed not only by the net revenue from the investments but also, where needed, by the revenue generated by selling part of the assets in RFCS up to the amount envisaged for the period 2021–2027.

(11)

The provisions laying down the procedure for the adoption of the multiannual financial guidelines for the management of the assets and those laying down the procedure for the adoption of multiannual technical guidelines for the programme should be deleted because they are covered by Article 2(2) of Protocol (No 37) and are therefore redundant.

(12)

The smoothing mechanism referred to in Article 5(2) of Decision 2003/76/EC should be abolished as it is an obsolete tool.

(13)

A new paragraph should be inserted in Article 1 of Decision 2003/76/EC, in order to allow the writing off of claims based on the principles established by the first subparagraph of Article 101(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) (‘the Financial Regulation’).

(14)

Decision 2003/76/EC should therefore be amended accordingly,