Research Fund for Coal and Steel: UK funding for 2020 call for proposals
Published 27 August 2020
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The European Commission has confirmed that UK participants engaged in ongoing RFCS projects will continue to be funded until the end of their project duration. There are no changes to current payment arrangements for these projects.
However, the Commission has informed UK participants in consortia applying to this year’s competition that they will no longer be eligible to receive RFCS funding for future projects. The government has also confirmed it will not fund successful UK applications to this year’s RFCS round.
While we understand this decision will be disappointing for organisations carrying out research in this area, we remain committed to working with industry to support a productive, modern and competitive steel sector in the UK.
The government has already taken wide-ranging action to support the steel industry including more than £480 million relief for electricity costs since 2013, provided guidance to ensure British steel makers have the best chance of competing for, and winning, contracts for all public procurement projects, and published details of a steel pipeline on national infrastructure projects worth around £500 million over the next decade. We have also announced a £250 million investment for a Clean Steel Fund, complemented by a £100 million Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund, to support the sector decarbonise and make the most of the clean growth opportunities in steel.
Leaving the EU provides the UK with the opportunity to focus investment on our own priorities. This includes the government committing to invest £22 billion in research and development by 2024/2025: a record increase spending, putting the UK on track to reach 2.4% of GDP being spent on R&D across the UK economy by 2027.
The government will decide on its science and innovation spending priorities at the Autumn Spending Review.