RFCS was formed in 2003 with remaining funds from ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) and has a capital of approximately  2000 M€ .  72,8% of the annual income, typically  35-40M€ is used for financing steel projects.

cordis.europa.eu/coal-steel-rtd/home_en.html

Sweden has successfully participated in ECSC/RFCS since joining the European Union in 1995 and has to date been involved in 168 projects, providing research funding of ~650MSEK. Typically 10-15 new projects with Swedish participants start each year.

Apply to RFCS

RFCS has an annual call for proposals with a submission date on or close to 15th September.  Every year there are a number of priority areas which give an extra evaluation point. Information on the application procedure, templates and a list of annual priorites are available at:  
http://cordis.europa.eu/coal-steel-rtd/infopack_en.html

In order to participate in an application, each organisation must have a Participant Identification Code – PIC, which should be applied for well in advance http://cordis.europa.eu/coal-steel-rtd/infopack_en.html

Evaluation of proposals is done by groups of experts appointed by the Commission. There is always a need for more experts, instructions on how to register are found at:
http://cordis.europa.eu/coal-steel-rtd/experts_en.html

The funding within RFCS projects is usually 60% of direct costs +  35% overhead.