ExpectedOutcome:
The European Green Deal Communication of the European Commission is the European growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.
The Communication also states that all Union actions and policies should pull together to help the Union achieve a successful and just transition towards a sustainable future.
Within the European Green Deal objectives, applicants to the RFCS Calls should consider the following elements when preparing their proposals:
The latest (2011-2017) Monitoring and Assessment of the RFCS Programme report highlights the major challenges for the European coal and steel industry: (i) to cut greenhouse gas emissions, (ii) to make sustainable use of energy and resources, and (iii) to develop new competitive, high-performance products and processes.
The RFCS package adopted on 19 July 2021 is in line with the Von der Leyen Commission's objectives and therefore enables the fund to help the sectors to tackle climate and environmental challenges. This means in particular assisting the EU's coal and steel industries to reduce their emissions, thus contributing to the European Green Deal's goals and achieving a Just Transition towards a climate neutral economy.
The Research Fund for Coal and Steel is embedded in the political, scientific, and technological objectives of the Union, and complements the activities carried out in the Member States and within the existing Union Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities.
As the European Commission encourages complementarity and sequencing among research programmes and supports the exchange of information between projects financed under different instruments, this Research Programme is meant to be complementary to national and other European financial instruments for research and innovation, including Horizon Europe, ESIF, ERDF, the Innovation Fund and LIFE.
Reference to consolidated Council Decisions (Council Decision of 29 April 2008 2008/376/EC amended by the Council Decision (EU) 2017/955 of 29 May 2017 and Council Decision (EU) 2021/1094 of 28 June 2021).
Objective:The RFCS Programme (RFCS Decision 2021/1094) has the following research objectives for the Coal sector:
The call objectives are:
This Call provides support for projects that will support the coal industry diversification through the application of new technologies, especially those technologies that have been developed with RFCS support in the last years. In particular, proposals should focus on repurposing of industrial sites related to the coal industry, specifically the repurposing of closed coal mines or coal mines under closure and/or the reconversion of coal power plants.
Specifically
Proposers may submit proposals for either Pilot or Demonstration projects (see Art. 15 and Art. 16 of Council Decision 2008/376/EC).
Expected Impact:Proposals should set out clearly the specific impact target that they aim at by the end of the project. They should clearly describe their foreseen impact of the transition of the coal regions towards a carbon-neutral Europe in 2050 in line with the principles of the Just Transition Mechanism.
Each proposal shall include an assessment of anticipated industrial, economic, social and environmental benefits (Art. 26 of Council Decision 2008/376/EC, “Content of proposals”).