Resolution of the ECSC Consultative Committee on the occasion of its final session on the legacy of the European Coal and Steel Community (Adopted unanimously at the 361st session on 26 June 2002)
Date: 2002-07-24
Institutions: Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community
Subjects: ECSC, ECSC Treaty, coal industry, industrial restructuring, iron and steel industry, social audit, sustainable development

C 176/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

24.7.2002

RESOLUTION OF THE ECSC CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

ON THE OCCASION OF ITS FINAL SESSION

ON THE LEGACY OF THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY

(Adopted unanimously at the 361st session on 26 June 2002)

(2002/C 176/04)

1. THE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE EUROPEAN COAL

AND STEEL COMMUNITY,

2. WISHES TO EXPRESS ITS SATISFACTION AT THE EFFORTS
MADE TO PRESERVE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ECSC
AFTER THE TREATY EXPIRES,

1.1. with reference to the Preamble to the Treaty establishing
the European Coal and Steel Community, and,
in
particular,
to the desire to help raise the standard of
living, further the works of peace and, by establishing
an economic community, create the basis for a deeper
community among peoples;

1.2. recalling Jean Monnet's address at the first meeting of the
Consultative Committee on 26 January 1953, and,
in
particular, his emphasis on improving production, on
free access for all users to all sources of supply, at
reduced prices and with no discrimination, and on
improving
all key
living
objectives of ECSC activities;

and working

conditions,

1.3. emphasising that the Consultative Committee is currently
the only institution set up under the ECSC Treaty which is
in existence in its original form and that, for five
still
decades, it has made possible concerted management of
all issues relating to the development of the coal and steel
industries;

1.4. referring to the Commission communication (1) of 27
September 2000 on the future of structured dialogue
after the expiry of the ECSC Treaty;

1.5. referring to its Resolution (2) of 25 January 2001 on the
structured dialogue in the coal and steel

future of
industries;

1.6. referring to its Resolution (3) of 6 April 2000 on the state
of the competitiveness of the steel industry in the EU;

1.7. referring to its declarations of 25 June 1999 on the role
of coal in the Europe of the 21st century and of 5 April
2001 on the role of steel in Europe at the beginning of
the 21st century;

1.8. referring to its opinion (4) of 25 January 2002 on the
Commission communication ‘A European Union strategy
for sustainable development’,

(1) COM(2000) 588 final.
(2) OJ C 87, 17.3.2001.
(3) OJ C 136, 16.5.2000, p. 7.
(4) OJ C 54, 1.3.2002, p. 5.

2.1. firstly, at the creation, under the Decision of the Represen-
tatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting
within the Council, of 27 February 2002 on the financial
consequences of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty and on the
Research Fund for Coal and Steel (5), of the Research Fund
for Coal and Steel,
to continue collaborative sectoral
research on the basis of the guidelines annexed to that
Decision; it is particularly important for the industry to
continue to be involved in the distribution of the research
funds generated by the ECSC levy and for the network of
experts set up by the ECSC to continue in existence. The
Consultative Committee is also gratified to note that their
access to the EU's general framework programmes will
not be restricted because of post-ECSC research which is
outside the EU budget;

2.2. secondly, at

the setting-up, within the Economic and
Social Committee, of a Consultative Subcommittee for
Coal, Steel and Industrial Conversion,
in
addition to the members of
the ESC representing the
two sectors, 30 delegates from the three Consultative
Committee categories who have the know-how gained
first-hand
the
from experience with
knowledge of
reality will be
and social
industrial
responsible for ensuring that structured sectoral dialogue
continues;

ECSC and

in which,

restructuring and closure

2.3. thirdly, at the adoption by the Commission on 19 March
2002 of a communication on the multisectoral framework
on regional aid for large investment projects and on
steel
rescue,
industry, under which neither the expiry of the ECSC
Treaty nor the enlargement expected for 2004 will lead
to any relaxation of the strict aid regime applying in the
EU steel sector. Those types of aid which are known to be
damaging to healthy competition — investment aid,
regional
and restructuring aid — will
continue to be banned in the steel sector;

aid for

rescue

aid,

the

2.4. fourthly, at the political agreement in the Council on 7
June 2002 on the proposal for a Council Regulation on
State aid to the coal industry, which maintains the prin-
ciples of the ECSC as regards flanking measures to go with
restructuring, whilst placing this issue in the context of
security of supply and sustainable development for the
21st century,

(5) OJ L 79, 22.3.2002.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 176/7

3. URGES THE EU INSTITUTIONS TO BEAR IN MIND THAT:

3.1. the ECSC sectors have substantially increased their efforts
to protect the environment with a view to sustainable
development. It is vitally important that the authorities
— essentially at European level — take into account the
progress made;

3.2. undertakings

coal

in the

industries

and steel

issued by

are
increasingly constrained by the rising tide of regulations
and administrative provisions
European,
national, regional and local authorities. Excessive bureau-
cratic regulation is stifling investment capacity, which is
crucial for the maintenance and improvement of overall
competitive capacity and the improvement of environ-
mental protection. The authorities should endeavour to
take a balanced view of economic, environmental and
social constraints;

3.3. undertakings in the ECSC sector need young and highly
qualified engineers and entrepreneurs to enable them to
develop. Schools and universities should play their part in
arousing greater
in industry and technology.
Society as it is today cannot survive without an effective
industrial base;

interest

3.4.

reductions

international negotiations on sustainable and verifiable
world-level
industry's excess
in the
capacity should be speeded up within the WTO and the
OECD.
the Consultative Committee's
experience in restructuring the ECSC sectors, the social
partners should be involved in these negotiations;

In view of

steel

3.5. to promote the competitiveness of their steel industries,
the CEEC governments must reduce their controls and
speed up the privatisation process, whilst complying
with the ECSC Aid Code. Local undertakings must also
cut capacity in line with a realistic estimate of foreseeable
demand. The Consultative Committee considers that the
Commission should take this point into account when
negotiations on these important
issues are concluded,
ensuring that there is strict compliance with the relevant
commitments,

4. NEVERTHELESS WISHES TO EXPRESS ITS CONCERN ABOUT
THE MEANS USED TO SECURE THE BENEFIT OF THE ECSC
LEGACY, NOTING IN PARTICULAR THAT:

4.1. the various ECSC social measures, more especially aid for
retraining, have gradually been stopped without being
replaced by equivalent measures under the EC Treaty,

with the risk of serious restructuring problems in the
future, notably in countries which will be joining the
European Union;

4.2. the sectoral approach to the use of the Structural Funds,
as illustrated in the Community's Resider and Rechar
initiatives, has been abandoned instead of acting as a
link with ECSC measures;

4.3. there is no guaranteed future for the Paul Finet Foun-
dation, which was set up to award study grants to the
orphans of workers in the coal and steel industries who
had died as a result of industrial accidents or diseases, and
which thus symbolises the ECSC's social conscience;

4.4. the merger of the Safety and Health Commission for the
Mining and Other Extractive Industries with the Advisory
Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at
Work raises a serious problem,
in view of which the
Committee recommends that the Commission continue
to treat prevention in the mining industry as a special
case, since the work involved is high risk,

5. WOULD LIKE, AS ITS WORK DRAWS TO A CLOSE, TO EXPRESS

ITS FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE AND PRIDE BY:

5.1. paying solemn tribute to the workers in the two sectors
whose efforts and devotion enabled the ECSC to be
created and to operate,
the victims of
in particular
serious industrial accidents and diseases;

5.2. paying tribute to all those involved in the two industries
who, by their commitment and their willingness to engage
in social dialogue and promote social peace, made it
possible to develop what
today an efficient and
competitive industrial tool;

is

5.3. recalling that the European Union came into being in the
coal and iron ore mines and in the steelworks and that the
process which began in 1952 with the ECSC has drawn to
a conclusion in 2002 with the introduction of the single
currency;

5.4. paying a sincere tribute to the citizens of

the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg — the first country to play host
to the European institutions — whose hospitality has
provided an especially calm backdrop,
firstly to the
work of
the High Authority and the Consultative
Committee and then for all the Community institutions.