Mr President, as we all know, the European Coal and Steel Community was the first institutional body. The structure of Europe was gradually built up around it, and in recent years it has provided substantial assistance, in terms of both social aid and research to coal and steel firms. The approach of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty in 2002 presents Parliament with some significant decisions to make. In terms of budgetary decisions, how should the concluding stages of the Treaty be managed? Even after 2002, will adequate attention be given to the firms and workers in the sector? What bridging measures between the ECSC budget and the Union’s general budget can be devised to facilitate the transition to new procedures for access to financing for potential beneficiaries? The Committee on Budgets invites Parliament to give a clear answer to these three questions, mindful of its prerogatives and eager to make the most of the experience gained so far under the Treaty, through dialogue with the Council and the Commission, which we hope will be positive. The Committee on Budgets – and I thank all my colleagues, from the chairman to all the group representatives for their participation – unanimously proposes the following recommendations: 1. to reinstate the amounts laid down in the 1999 budget. 2. to redistribute the allocations to the coal and steel sectors according to needs, and in particular, to increase social aid in the coal sector, and research funding in the steel sector; 3. to ask for additional appropriations to be allocated to finance measures to promote health and safety in coal mines, and to ensure the development of clean technologies and of products with a high added value, in the steel sector; 4. with enlargement in mind, to ask for part of the PHARE programme appropriations to be earmarked for activities connected with the steel and coal sectors of the applicant countries; 5. to reiterate clearly the request for a reduction in administrative expenditure, as the sum calculated 19 years ago is clearly excessive for current requirements, and to carry out an assessment of real staffing requirements in light of the Union’s current and future political priorities in this sector; 6. to insist that the research fund for coal and steel, which will receive the interest from the reserves and provisions determined by the balance sheet is managed by a specific structure – be it a foundation or an agency, according to the wishes already expressed by Parliament – in order to guarantee a degree of visibility of the activities in the coal and steel sectors and to ensure that the representatives of both sides of industry will be fully involved in the use and planning of this fund; 7. to reaffirm that the transfer of the ECSC assets to the general budget will entail a budget entry against both revenue lines and expenditure lines and will therefore necessitate a technical adjustment of the current Financial Perspective; 8. to provide for ‘bridging’ pilot projects between the ECSC budget and the general budget in order to facilitate the transition between the activities financed by the ECSC and the Union’s programmes, in particular as far as structural funds and research are concerned. The Commission will have to give the greatest importance to the actions for which adequate instruments at Community level have not yet been provided. Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on the basis of this comprehensive outline, may I ask Parliament for a vote which is as extensive and united as possible. This would certainly give more weight to our decisions.

Political group: PSE