No C 180/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 20. 7. 90 
OPINION OF THE ECSC CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE 
concerning the forward programme for steel for the third quarter of 1990 
(90/C 180/02) 
(Adopted unanimously at the 285th session of 29 June 1990, with five abstentions) 
THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE, 
— having taken note of the draft forward programme for steel for the third quarter of 1990, 
— having heard the report of its Subcommittee for Markets and Prices, 
having taken formal note of the explanations and comments made during the session by the 
representative of the Commission, 
1. REGRETS that the Commission — when preparing the forward programme for steel for the 
third quarter — abandoned the forecasting system by product which for more than 10 years 
has proved to be particularly useful for improving the transparency and knowledge of 
cyclical movements of the market and for better guidance of the actions of everyone 
concerned; 
2. STATES that the forward programmes to be established by the Commission in accordance 
with Articles 5 and 46 of the ECSC Treaty should give indications to companies and other 
interested parties with regard to their activities. In order to comply with this indicative 
character, the Commission should ensure that the forward programmes be sufficiently 
concrete. 
The quarterly forecasts concerning the development of crude steel alone are thus certainly 
insufficient to achieve these objectives because crude steel is — from the economic and 
commercial point of view — too general a concept to represent a concrete element for 
market analysis; 
3. RECALLS that the study of market developments and the publication of forward 
programmes are closely linked in the Treaty. As the analysis of the market and of price 
tendencies can only be made by product, this principle ought normally to be applied also to 
forward programmes. Due to the fact that the development of individual products can be 
totally different regarding demand, price development, imports and exports, a forward 
programme for crude steel alone does not represent an acceptable alternative for those 
interested in a serious forecast study of the steel market; 
4. EMPHASIZES that several important steel-producing countries — such as Japan, the United 
States, etc. — which are competitors of the Community's steel industry, have rapidly at their 
disposal very detailed information on the development of the market and have, therefore, an 
advantage due to their access to very sophisticated, macro-economic and sectoral forecasts; 
5. POINTS OUT that the Commission would seriously fail in the responsibilities that the Treaty 
has conferred on it if it was not in a position to advise, in due time, the interested parties of 
the different developments in certain products in comparison with the development of the 
whole of the steel products (as has often been the case); 
20. 7. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 180/3 
6. CONSIDERS that a permanent and rapid analysis is all the more indispensible as the excep­
tional political and economic events in Eastern Europe, in China and in Latin America have 
very important effects on the Community and international steel market; 
7. REQUESTS that the Commission reintroduce in the text of the forward programme for steel 
for the third quarter of 1990 the forecasts subdivided by product in accordance with the 
spirit of Article 46 of the ECSC Treaty. 
RESOLUTION OF THE ECSC CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE 
concerning financial aids from the Community for technical steel research projects and steel 
pilot/demonstration projects under Article 55 (2) (c) of the ECSC Treaty 
(90/C 180/03) 
(Adopted unanimously at the 285th session of 29 June 1990) 
THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE, 
1. REGRETS deeply that, during the meetings of the Subcommittee for Research Projects on 
7 and 28 June 1990, the Commission representatives were unable to discuss all the aspects 
relating to financial aids, stemming from the ECSC levy, to finance: 
— a programme of 101 steel research projects for the amount of ECU 28 002 040, and 
— a programme of 14 pilot and/or demonstration projects in the steel industry for the 
amount of ECU 12 996 650; 
2. DEPLORES that the Commission has not forwarded to the Consultative Committee a 
document explaining in detail the nature of the problems which it is experiencing; 
3. RECALLS THAT: 
— the policy on financing research projects, which the Commission is called upon to 
implement, should contribute to the achievement of the objectives set out in Articles 2 to 
5 of the ECSC Treaty, 
— Community aid for research is derived in its entirety from the ECSC levy, which is paid 
for by the companies, 
— according to Article 55 (2) (c) of the ECSC Treaty, the results of the research so 
financed should be made available to all concerned in the Community. 
In this context, the Consultative Committee also recalls that the Commission has already 
described, in 1982, the very special nature of ECSC finance for research compared with 
other forms of financial aid; 
4. UNDERLINES once again the vital importance of research in a sector where innovation is 
increasingly becoming an essential factor for success, as well as the need to develop the 
research effort by Community financial aid of a sufficient level in the framework of the 
programmes approved by the Commission;