Memorandum from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Consultative Committee on the future of ECSC financial activities The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Consultative Committee has published a Memorandum on the future of ECSC financial activities. The Memorandum focuses in particular on the following: - The transfer of certain ECSC lending activities to the EIB; - The financing of ... The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Consultative Committee has published a Memorandum on the future of ECSC financial activities. The Memorandum focuses in particular on the following: - The transfer of certain ECSC lending activities to the EIB; - The financing of social measures connected with the restructuring of the coal and steel industries; - The financing of ECSC research activities. The Committee considers that, until the Treaty expires, ECSC financial resources must be concentrated on the urgent priority needs of the coal and steel industries, to which the Commission itself is urging to carry out fundamental structural adjustments. This concentration of ECSC financial resources is only possible if borrowing/lending activities are transferred to the EIB more quickly and to a greater extent than at present. The Committee insists that the Commission should clarify as soon as possible the way in which the European Social Fund and the general budget can contribute to the social measures for the coal and steel industries. Regarding the financing of research, the Consultative Committee: - Requests that the methods of organizing ECSC research, technical as well as social, that have proved successful during 40 years of Community practice should be maintained; - Considers that, in contrast to the cuts in the funding of ECSC research that figure in the 1994 budget, sufficient funds must be allocated to ECSC research until the Treaty expires, in order to prepare the way for a smooth transition from ECSC funding to EC funding; - Would like the Commission to specify without delay what actual possibilities exist for incorporating ECSC research activities into EC general research programmes.
