The future of collaborative research in the coal and steel sectors
The Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) has adopted a resolution on the future of collaborative research in the coal and steel sectors, in light of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty in 2002, and the gradual phasing-in of certain elements of the ECSC Treaty into the general treaty. The ECSC Consultative Committee considers that the achievements of ECSC collaborative research in the technological and social fields have been and are excellent. It also considers that ECSC research is perfectly in keeping with the principles of the Fifth Framework Programme. The Committee, therefore, urges that sufficient resources be granted in order to maintain the present level of collaborative research to assist the coal and steel industries and their workers. In particular, the Committee calls for improved access to the general framework programmes, appropriate funding through the ECSC budget until 2002 and the creation, post 2002, of a research fund constituted from the ECSC reserves. The creation of such a research fund is, moreover, foreseen in the European Council Resolution on growth and employment adopted in Amsterdam in June 1997. The importance of maintaining a single management structure for collaborative research in the coal and steel industries is strongly underlined in the resolution, which recommends that the existing ECSC networks and bodies (SERDEC, CRC and Technical Executive Committees) be used to ensure this management, with appropriate representation of the coal and steel industries, their workers and the user sectors.