Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on The Perspectives of European Coal and Steel Research
Date: 2008-02-13
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU research policy, coal, fund (EU), industrial research, research programme, steel

C 162/88

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.6.2008

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on The Perspectives of European Coal
and Steel Research

(2008/C 162/22)

On 27 September 2007 the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 29(2) of its Rules
of Procedure, decided to draw up an additional own-initiative opinion on

The Perspectives of European Coal and Steel Research.

The Consultative Commission on Industrial Change, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's
work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 February 2008. The rapporteur was Mr Zboril and the co-
rapporteur was Mr Gibellieri.

At its 442nd plenary session, held on 13 and 14 February 2008(meeting of 13 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 158 votes to 1 with 3 abstentions.

Part one — Conclusions and recommendations

research programme,

A.
The EESC is satisfied that the proposed revision of the
technical guidelines on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel
(RFCS)
submitted by the European
Commission for a Council Decision, looks to further improve
the good results already achieved to date. No major overhaul is
needed, taking into account the position of the Commission,
which is keen to make the programme as straightforward for its
participants as possible.

— establish priorities for the research programme complemen-
tary to the relevant European Technology Platforms (ESTEP-
European Steel Technology Platform, ZEP-Zero Emission
Fossil Fuel Power Plants Platform, SMR-Sustainable Mineral
Resources Platform) (1);

— decide on the need to launch dedicated calls for very specific

and relevant issues;

— modify, where appropriate, the definition of ‘coal and steel’

appended to the Decision.

B.
The EESC agrees with Commissioner Potočnik that the
RFCS research programme remains separate and complementary
to the Research Framework programme and covers all aspects
related to coal and steel.

E.
The EESC calls on the Commission to re-insert into the
rules of procedure for the consultation of the Coal and Steel
Programme Committee (COSCO) the comments and proposals
concerning the evaluation of research and pilot/demonstration
projects from both the CAG and SAG.

C.
The EESC welcomes the fact that the proposed Decision
simplifies administrative procedures, inter alia by deleting some
accompanying measures since they are already covered by the
7th Framework Programme (RTD FP),
increasing financial
support from 40 to 50 % for pilot and demonstration projects,
and allowing dedicated calls on priorities identified by the coal
and steel
industries on the basis of their strategic needs that
converge with the 7th Research Framework Programme and
dovetail with the strategic research agendas of the relevant Euro-
pean Technology Platforms.

1. Part two — Background

1.1
On 1 July 2004 the European Economic and Social
Committee, acting under Rule 29(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion on

The EESC stresses the need to meet the request from the
D.
industrial sectors concerned to give a more important and
proactive role to both the CAG (Coal Advisory Group) and the
SAG (Steel Advisory Group) in the management of the RFCS
research programme, enabling them to:

— exercise their roles as outlined in Decision 2003/78/EC;

— propose lists of experts from industry, research centres and
the academic world to be involved in the evaluation of
research and pilot/demonstration projects;

The Perspectives of European Coal and Steel Research.

(1) The SRA (Strategic Research Agenda) priorities of the European Steel
Technology Platform (ESTEP) are focused on sustainable growth,
emphasising the enduring competitiveness of the industry based on
innovation, cooperation with partners, keen environmental aware-
ness and its strong connection with steel producers; this is how it
contributes to the EU's research programmes.
In parallel, the priorities of the Technology Platform for Zero Emission
Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) aim at identifying and removing the
obstacles to the creation of highly efficient power plants with near-zero
emissions which will drastically reduce the environmental impact of
fossil fuel use. This will include CO2 capture and storage, as well as
clean conversion technologies leading to substantial improvements in
plant efficiency, reliability and costs. The Sustainable Mineral Resources
Platform (SMR) will also be taken into account.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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1.2
The Consultative Commission on Industrial Change,
which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on
the subject, adopted its opinion (CCMI/018 — CESE 845/2005)
on 13 June 2005. The rapporteur was Mr Lagerholm and the
co-rapporteur was Mr Gibellieri.

At its 419th plenary session, held on 13 and 14 July
1.3
2005 (meeting of 13 July 2005), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the above mentioned opinion by 57
votes to none with 3 abstentions.

1.4 More than two years since the publication of the above
mentioned EESC opinion, some changes to the RFCS research
programme are under way.
In fact, on 10 July 2007, after
consultation with the Coal and Steel Programme Committee
(COSCO), the European Commission adopted a proposal for a
Council Decision on a revision of the technical guidelines on
the RFCS research programme for spending funds on coal and
steel research.

is

This

revision

1.5
by Council Decision
required
2003/76/EC, 2003/77/EC, 2003/78/EC of 1 February 2003,
which created the RFCS. It should be recalled that Council Deci-
sion 2003/76/EC also transferred the assets and liabilities of the
ECSC to the European Community and allocated the net worth
of these assets to research in the sectors related to coal and
steel.

2. Part three — Motivation

The Research Fund for Coal and Steel

(RFCS) has an
2.1
annual budget of between EUR 50 million and EUR 60 million
for research in these two areas, financed by interest on the
assets of the now-expired European Coal and Steel Community
Treaty. The RFCS programme is a separate, complementary
programme to the Research Framework programme and covers
all aspects of coal and steel, from production processes to appli-
cation, looking at the utilisation and conversion of resources,
safety at work and environmental protection by improving the
use of coal as a clean energy source and reducing CO2 emissions
from coal use and steel production.

The proposed Decision simplifies some administrative

2.2
procedures, inter alia by:

— deleting some accompanying measures

since they are
already covered by the 7th Framework Programme (RTD
FP);

— increasing financial support from 40 to 50 % for pilot and
demonstration projects, and allowing dedicated calls on
identified priorities that converge with the 7th Research
Framework Programme and dovetail with the strategic
research agendas of the relevant European Technology Plat-
forms.

2.3
Participation is simple: proposals can be submitted any
time with a cut-off date of 15 September each year. There is no
ceiling either for the project budget or for the number of parti-
cipating partners in each project. Third countries may partici-
pate, but do not receive any European financial support. Projects
are evaluated by external experts and selected based on the
quality of the research proposed. The monitoring of projects is
done according to an annual ‘peer review’ process.

2.4
It has also been necessary to make some changes to the
rules governing membership of the advisory groups and the
role of Member States in the Coal and Steel Programme
Committee (COSCO), particularly in the light of recent enlarge-
ments of the European Union (periodicity of revisions, duration
of mandates, system of selection of proposals and monitoring
of projects to avoid conflicts of interest, etc.).

This revision is required by the legislative Decision that
2.5
created the RFCS. In the Commission's view the RFCS has so far
worked well and so a major overhaul is not required.

2.6
In the meantime the European Steel Technology Platform
(ESTEP) has continued its own work. The ESTEP press release of
July 2007 shows the first results of its long-term commitment
to a sustainable future. ESTEP proposed a Strategic Research
Agenda (SRA) in December 2003 and was then inaugurated in
March 2004.

2.7
ESTEP was among the first technology platforms to step
forward and publish its vision of the future. The priorities of its
SRA are focused on sustainable growth: they emphasise the
enduring competitiveness of the industry based on innovation,
cooperation with partners, keen environmental awareness and
its strong connection with steel producers; this is how it contri-
butes to the EU's research programmes.

2.8
In line with the proposed priority on ‘Near Zero Emis-
sion Power Generation’ (ZEP) in FP7, the initial scope of the
Platform aims at identifying and removing the obstacles to the
creation of highly efficient power plants with near-zero emis-
sions which will drastically reduce the environmental impact of
fossil fuel use. This will include CO2 capture and storage, as well
as clean conversion technologies leading to substantial improve-
ments in plant efficiency, reliability and costs.

As regards the industrial side, there are references to the
2.9
time of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, ended
in July 2002) where the R&D projects covered by the relevant
R&D support programme were largely evaluated and chosen
with a significant input from the steel producers involved. The
coal part of the programme was handled along the same lines
as the pertaining technical guidelines. This role of the industry
was legitimated by the fact that the ECSC funds came exclusively
from the levy on the coal and steel industry.

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.6.2008

The situation greatly changed when the Research Fund
2.10
for Coal and Steel
(RFCS) was established in 2003 (Council
Decision 2003/76/EC, 2003/77/EC, 2003/78/EC of 1 February
2003, published in OJ L 29/22, OJ L 29/25, OJ L 29/28 of 5
February 2003). At that time the remaining ECSC funds were
transferred to the new fund and the Commission was charged
with administering
and the pertaining R&D
programme in line with the essential elements of the previous
ECSC research programmes.

funds

the

The Commission's conception of the influence of the
2.11
coal and steel
industry on the RFCS programme is different
from that of the industry. In keeping with the provisions of
Decision 2003/78/EC, COSCO and the two advisory groups
CAG and SAG should be enabled to fully exercise their allocated

Brussels, 13 February 2008.

roles, which should not be curtailed by shifting their influence
from direct evaluation only to the aspects before the call for
proposals.

2.12
By means of the recent proposal to revise the technical
guidelines for the RFCS programme, the Commission is seeking
to adapt, wherever deemed beneficial, the formal procedures
and structures to those in use in the 7th Research Framework
Programme (FP7) of the EU. Therefore, any harmonisation with
rules and procedures of the FP should be strictly limited to areas
where a genuine simplification and/or increased effectiveness
can clearly be demonstrated. Whilst advantage should be taken
of existing synergies between FP 7 and the RFCS where possible,
the RFCS as a complementary and independent
the role of
programme needs to be preserved (see Part one — B).

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Decision of the
European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Decision 85/368/EEC on the compar-
ability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community

COM(2007) 680 final — 2007/0234 (COD)

(2008/C 162/23)

On 27 November 2007 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Decision 85/368/EEC on the
comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 29 January 2008. The rapporteur working
without a study group was Mr Metzler.

At its 442nd plenary session, held on 13-14 February 2008 (meeting of 13 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 156 votes to three with five abstentions.

1. Conclusions

1.1
The Committee has thoroughly examined the reasoning
of the European Commission and the European Parliament and,
in particular against the backdrop of the reports and the experi-
ences — to be confirmed by the Committee — of the work to
create common career profiles, finds it to be conclusive, sound
and properly argued. The Committee emphasises this in view of
the creation of a new set of instruments designed to strengthen
and facilitate the mobility of persons, i.e. the European Qualifi-
cations Framework.

The Committee believes that this decision helps secure
it critically examines unused and

1.2
better lawmaking in that
unworkable rules and replaces them with better instruments.

The Committee backs Commission moves to establish a
1.3
system to help people make better use of their practical experi-
ence and skills for the purposes of mobility and easier migration
within the single market in services. It particularly welcomes the
fact that the system is initially voluntary.

1.4
In the light of past experience, the Committee calls for
action to counter the uncertainty caused by the repeal of legisla-
tion by increasing transparency and reporting on the impact of
such a move, and to ensure that any confusion with Directive
2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications is
avoided.