Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 20 July 1998 concerning the expiry of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community
7. 8. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 247/5 RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL concerning the expiry of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community of 20 July 1998 (98/C 247/04) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL, RECALLING: - the resolution of the European Council on growth and employment adopted in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June 1997, according to which the Commission is invited to make the appropriate proposals in order to ensure that, on expiry in 2002 of the Treaty estabÜ lishing the European Coal and Steel Community (hereinafter referred to as "the ECSC’), the revenues of outstanding reserves are used for a research fund for sectors related to the coal and steel industries, of international law unless the Member States decide otherwise by common accord; (b) the decision on the ownership of the assets and liabilities must be consistent with the achievement of the aim agreed at the Amsterdam European Council to use the revenues and outstanding reserves for a research fund for sectors related to the coal and steel industries; (c) implementation of conclusions of the the Amsterdam European Council requires further consideration, in particular the legal means by which they can be brought into effect and their practical consequences. This should be a subject for further study by the Council, the Commission and the Member States. - the Commission’s communication on the expiry of the ECSC Treaty - Financial Activities of 10 October 1997, 3. CONSIDER THAT in relation to the management of the ECSC assets: 1. NOTE THAT: (a) it is important to recognise the excellent results of the by funded research contribution made to the improvement of the competitiveness and social conditions in the coal and steel industries; the ECSC and (b) the overall approach contained the Commission’s communication of 10 October 1997 line with the guidelines adopted by the is abovementioned European Council resolution; its in in in (c) this approach is consistent with the opinions already expressed by the European Parliament, the ECSC Consultative Committee and the coal and steel levy payments, made a significant contribution to the ECSC assets. industries which, through their 2. NOTE THAT, in relation to the ownership of the ECSC assets and liabilities: (a) on expiry of the ECSC Treaty, ownership of these assets and the Member States, in accordance with the principles liabilities will revert to (a) in order to ensure from other Community funds, it is important to secure the ECSC assets as the "ECSC in liquidation’; separation (b) these funds should remain separate from other Community funds for the purposes agreed by the Member States, even after all outstanding financial operations have been completed and all the possible contingencies that could emerge have been adequately covered; (c) administration of the assets should be entrusted to the Communities remaining, as represented by the the continuing Commission. This will enable management financial and of operations not completed in 2002; budgetary (d) any changes to the purpose for which the assets to a have been provided should be subject unanimous decision of Member States; financial guidelines proposed by (e) to ensure the long term viability of the assets, they should be managed on the basis of multiÜ annual the Commission and adopted by the Council. The management of the assets readily available should be aimed at the highest possible yield that is securely attainable; C 247/6 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 8. 98 (f) in order to ensure transparency, the Commission should adopt annual financial reports certified by the Court of Auditors and then transmitted to the Council; 4. FURTHERMORE, CONSIDER THAT in relation to the organisation of research funds: (a) the revenues from the ECSC assets the European Communities should constitute "dedicated’ revenue under the general budget of to be administrated by the Commission. This should be directed to a research programme for sectors related to the coal and steel industries, guided by the proposals on scientific and technical content set out in the Commission communication and including the possibility of widening the scope of to applied research. the existing programme Further changes to the use of the revenue should be subject to a unanimous decision of Member States; (b) to maximise the impact of research on the competitiveness of these industries, the research programme should be managed along lines similar to the existing research programme and on the basis of multiannual research guidelines proposed by the Commission and adopted by the Council, in close consultation with industry; (c) these guidelines should further develop financed by the the current research programme ECSC, by ensuring a high degree of concenÜ tration and by making it complementary to those under the Community framework programme. They should take account of the objective of and competitivenesss, strengthening employment. The guidelines should state clearly how industry experts are to be involved both in future research decisions and in the monitoring of projects; growth (d) in order to ensure the efficient annual allocation of funding, the existing procedures concerning the that adoption of individual research projects should be respected, the Commission should be taken with the agreement of the Council and in consultation with the sectors concerned; the decisions is, of (e) it is important that a full evaluation of the research is undertaken at the completion of the projects financed during the period covered by each multiannual research guideline. In particular, this evaluation should examine the benefits of the research to the sectors concerned. It is also important that preliminary results of research are made known to Member States before the expiry of each guideline as a basis for future decisionÜ making. 5. CALL ON the Commission, in consultation with interested parties, to present, before the next meeting of the Council, a contribution to the study referred to in paragraph 2(c) which reflects the consequences of any possible solution. 6. INVITE the Commission, in doing so, to consider how: any - new Member arrangements the conclusions of the Amsterdam European Council, after having contributed appropriately, States might to in join implement established - the breakdown between the allocations for the coal related research and that for steel related research can be calculated. This should initially be based on the financial contribution paid by the future two review. industries with the possibility for 7. INVITE the Commission to bring forward, where appropriate and in good time, proposals in other areas affected by the expiry of the ECSC Treaty, and for their part, agree to adopt all necessary measures to deal with the consequences of the expiry