The European Steel Association welcomes the European Council conclusion of 17-21 July 20201 on a comprehensive package of €1824.3 billion which combines the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and an extraordinary EU recovery effort under the Next Generation EU (NGEU) instrument, helping the EU to rebuild after the pandemic and support investment in the green and digital transitions.
We also welcome the legislative proposals submitted by the Commission on 16July 2020 to reform the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS)2345 in order to secure sufficient support for R&D in the steel industry. The Fund that has a size of €1.5 billion was created mainly from contributions of the EU steel and coal industries. The proposed reform should free around €350 million for the Clean Steel Partnership for the period 2021 – 2027 from the RFCS assets and a yearly R&D spending of at
least €40 million.