What changed

PR_NLE-CN_LegAct_app

P10_TA(2026)0172

Symbols for procedures

Research Fund for Coal and Steel: research programme and multiannual technical and financial guidelines

* Consultation procedure

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

*** Consent procedure

PE785.328

***I Ordinary legislative procedure (first reading)

European Parliament legislative resolution of 19 May 2026 on the draft Council decision on the adoption of the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, on the multiannual technical guidelines for this programme, on the multiannual financial guidelines for managing the assets of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, and repealing Decisions 2003/77/EC and 2008/376/EC (06417/2026 – C10-0063/2026 – 2025/0398(NLE))

***II Ordinary legislative procedure (second reading)

***III Ordinary legislative procedure (third reading)

(The type of procedure depends on the legal basis proposed by the draft act.)

Amendments to a draft act

Amendments by Parliament set out in two columns

Deletions are indicated in bold italics in the left-hand column. Replacements are indicated in bold italics in both columns. New text is indicated in bold italics in the right-hand column.

The first and second lines of the header of each amendment identify the relevant part of the draft act under consideration. If an amendment pertains to an existing act that the draft act is seeking to amend, the amendment heading includes a third line identifying the existing act and a fourth line identifying the provision in that act that Parliament wishes to amend.

Amendments by Parliament in the form of a consolidated text

New text is highlighted in bold italics. Deletions are indicated using either the ▌symbol or strikeout. Replacements are indicated by highlighting the new text in bold italics and by deleting or striking out the text that has been replaced.

By way of exception, purely technical changes made by the drafting departments in preparing the final text are not highlighted.

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Council decision on the adoption of the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, on the multiannual technical guidelines for this programme, on the multiannual financial guidelines for managing the assets of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, and repealing Decisions 2003/77/EC and 2008/376/EC

(06417/2026 – C100063/2026 – 2025/0398(NLE))

(Consultation)

– having regard to the Council draft (06417/2026),

– having regard to the second paragraph of Article 2 of Protocol No 37, annexed37 toon the Treatyfinancial onconsequences Europeanof Unionthe andexpiry toof the ECSC Treaty and on the FunctioningResearch ofFund thefor EuropeanCoal Union,and onSteel, annexed to the financialTreaty consequenceson ofEuropean theUnion expiryand ofto the ECSC Treaty and on the Research FundFunctioning forof Coalthe andEuropean Steel,Union, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C10-0063/2026),

– having regard to Rule 84 of its Rules of Procedure,

4. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

This file and the linked 2025/0390 (APP) are concerned with a necessary reform of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS).

When the treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) expired in 2002, the remaining ECSC assets were used to establish the RFCS. This was done because it had been levies on the coal and steel sectors which had funded the ECSC over its fifty-year life. Since 2002, interest on the fund has supported collaborative research and technological development linked to the competitiveness and clean transition of these sectors in line with among others the European Green Deal (EGD). Projects have ranged in size and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from academic research projects, in response to Annual Calls, to large, pilot-scale demonstrations of new technologies under so-called “Big Ticket” calls. Industry has benefited through the implementation of the new insights and innovative solutions, as well as indirectly from the thousands of scientists and engineers who have developed their skills and careers on these projects to deliver real-world solutions. In the case of coal-related research, projects are now focussed on post-mining issues such as land restoration, methane emission mitigation and new economic activities in line with a just transition. In the case of steel, there is the Clean Steel Partnership, established in response to the EGD, for decarbonisation/transformation of the sector alongside the existing projects focused on innovative steel products, enhancing competitiveness, durability, sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Protocol No. 37 of the EU Treaty lays down requirements for the liquidation of the ECSC assets and management of the RFCS research programme by the Commission. In 2021, the RFCS legal basis was amended in line with the Treaty to allow the sale of assets to supplement the revenue earned which had become too low to support a viable research programme. The resulting annual budget of €111 million is split between coal-related research (27.2%) and steel-related research (72.8%).

The RFCS is the only dedicated EU instrument providing sector-specific research funding for the coal and steel industries. Other frameworks, such as Horizon Europe, the Just Transition Fund, or the Innovation Fund, do not offer the same targeted alignment with the industrial realities of coal and steel industries.

The conclusion of the RFCS without a robust successor mechanism would create a critical gap in the EU’s financial architecture, undermining technological continuity in sectors of strategic importance. The Rapporteur considers that the phasing out of the fund must be contingent upon ensuring the technological resilience of coal and steel regions, mitigating the risks of deindustrialization during the green transition. The consequences of this are not abstract. The researchers, engineers and technicians whose work the RFCS sustains are not located in capital cities or technology hubs. They work in coal basins and steel valleys across Europe that now face the full weight of the green and industrial transitions simultaneously. These simultaneous transitions require investment in knowledge, in technology, in people and resources for these.

In respect of the latest amendments to the RFCS legal basis, as proposed by the Commission in December 2025, the Council of the European Union has agreed a General Approach. It is recommended that the European Parliament supports this General Approach which defines a final phase of the RFCS during which the annual budget will be increased to €120 million to support RFCS research calls from 2027 until 2034. The RFCS research programme would then come to an end around 2038, having disbursed all the remaining assets. The amendments are in line with the European Steel and Metals Action Plan of March 2025. While acknowledging the proposed operational timeline, the European Parliament conditions its support on the optimization of capital disbursement during the final phase. It is imperative that the 2027–2034 funding cycle is directly calibrated toward the deployment of breakthrough technologies in regions facing the most acute structural dependencies and transformation pressures.

Several other changes are proposed that will more closely align the management of the RFCS research programme with the Horizon Europe research programme, including on financial guarantees and increased funding rates to match Horizon Europe. In accordance with the provisions of this Protocol No.37, the assets of the RFCS shall be used exclusively for research, outside the research framework programme, in the sectors related to the coal and steel industry. Therefore, in the opinion of the European Parliament, the RFCS research programme should remain industry-led, and the Commission should ensure that this is the case when evaluating proposals in response to future calls following this reform. The Parliament rejects the perceived trade-off between scientific excellence and the industrial revitalization of vulnerable regions. Sustaining European competitiveness requires geographical inclusivity; a strategy that concentrates resources within established technology hubs while neglecting the primary industrial base is both structurally inefficient and detrimental to the cohesion of the internal market.

Furthermore, the Rapporteur believes that the Commission should assess, before the final disbursement of RFCS assets, what type of a successor mechanism for sector-specific coal and steel research is necessary to prevent a permanent gap in support for regions that remain structurally dependent on these industries to ensure a future that is sovereign, resilient and offers good industrial jobs thus implementing the freedom to stay for the European citizens.

In the current geopolitical and economic landscape, defined by a global race for competitiveness, the imperative of industrial leadership, and shifting fiscal priorities, just transition strategies for coal and steel industries must evolve into comprehensive strategies for regional growth and industrial resilience. The viability of these industrial basins depends on their ability to transform structural challenges into competitive advantages. The RFCS plays a critical role in this transformation by providing the specific financial architecture required for large-scale pilot demonstrations and the deployment of new technologies that are essential for long-term economic security. Europe cannot demand a deep industrial transformation while withdrawing the very research instruments that make such a transition possible. The final chapter of this fund must honor its origins by investing in the innovation and people who will carry these regions from their industrial past into a competitive, low-carbon future.

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur declares that he included in his report input on matters pertaining to the subject of the file that he received, in the preparation of the draft report, from the following interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from the following representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies:

1. Interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register

Alicja Krzemień, Główny Instytut Górnictwa, Euracoal

2. Representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies

None

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur declares that he has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament's Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.

PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Title

On the adoption of the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, on the multiannual technical guidelines for this programme, on the multiannual financial guidelines for managing the assets of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, and repealing Decisions 2003/77/EC and 2008/376/EC

References

06417/2026 – C10-0063/2026 – COM(2025)0760 – C10-0019/2026 – 2025/0398(NLE)

Date of consultation or request for consent

4.2.2026

Committee(s) responsible

Date announced in plenary

ITRE

9.3.2026

Committees asked for opinions

Date announced in plenary

BUDG

9.3.2026

Not delivering opinions

Date of decision

BUDG

26.2.2026

Rapporteurs

Date appointed

Borys Budka

25.2.2026

Discussed in committee

15.4.2026

Date adopted

6.5.2026

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

60

0

10

Date tabled

7.5.2026

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

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