The European Commission adopted a decision on the financing of the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) with a total budget of €175 million for 2025, to support collaborative research in the steel and coal sectors. This will include two main calls (“Big Tickets”) of €100 million for steel and €35 million for coal that will be launched in February 2025 to fund research for breakthrough technologies leading to near-zero-carbon steelmaking, as well as projects for managing the just transition for coal mines. An additional standard annual call, worth €40 million, to cover both coal and steel is set to open in June 2025.
Coal and steel continue to play a significant role for industries, while at the same time steel is essential for many renewable energy technologies and as such is of strategic importance. The RFCS aligns with the European Green Deal’s objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050 and complements the Just Transition Mechanism. It promotes excellence in research and innovation and supports Europe’s competitiveness, innovation, decarbonisation efforts and security, as emphasised in the Report by Mario Draghi on the future of European competitiveness.
The Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) supports the just transition of the coal sector and coal mining regions, and aims at improving health and safety as well as minimising the environmental impacts during the process of repurposing of former mines and related infrastructure.
Source: European Commission
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