On March 10, 2026, the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy spoke at the hearing of the 9th permanent Commission of the Senate of the Italian Republic – Industry, trade, tourism, agriculture, and food farming production- dedicated to the evaluation of “COM(2025) 759 final” and “COM(2025) 760 final” European Deeds, committed to the reform of Research Founding for Carbon and Steel (Fondo di Ricerca Carbone e Acciaio-FRCA).
The CNR speakers were Dr. Carlo Brondi, researcher at CNR-STIIMA, and Dr. Paolo Ceci, senior technologist at CNR-IIA. They highlighted that iron and steel industry demands an integrated approach that can simultaneously address requirements for decarbonization, circular economy, industrial competitiveness, and digital transformation. Quality of discarded materials, efficiency of EAF cycles, valorization of byproducts, dependence on critical inputs, and need to efficiently link data, processes, and markets emerged among mentioned topics.
The speech underlined some crucial issues for the implementation of the two European proposals: the availability of alternatives for energy at competitive costs, the industrial feasibility of two different technological trajectories, solidity in project organization, the importance of robust partnership between research and industries, the need of selecting projects featuring actual transferability to facilities, and, overall, the role of CNR, including its knowledge and expertise.
The hearing provided an opportunity for an institutional debate on strategic themes for the future of the iron and steel industry and on the role of Italian research in supporting the European industrial transition.
