The European Coal Conference is held every two or three years and brings together scientists and specialists involved in the study of a wide range of issues related to the geology and development of coal basins and fields; composition, quality and rational use of coal; the environmental impact of coal mining and processing and many other issues. It took place in Poland (2000), Belgium (2002), and Serbia (2005). Ukraine hosted the conference for the first time.
Lviv brought together over forty representatives of twelve foreign countries: Algeria, Belgium, Belarus, Germany, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, as well as about sixty specialists from Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Sokal, Chervonograd.
Prior to the conference opening, the organizers published the abstracts and a Field Geological Excursion Guide. The excursion involved the peculiarities of the geology of the Lviv-Volyn coal basin, the enterprises producing and enriching coal, as well as the historical and architectural monuments of Lviv and Lviv regions. The conference was opened with a report by P. Hozyk and A. Radzwill "Directions of Geological Studies of Coal and Coal-hydrocarbon Basins of Ukraine".