This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Strategic technologies for Europe platform (STEP)
SUMMARY OF:
Regulation (EU) 2024/795 establishing the strategic technologies for Europe platform
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?
Regulation (EU) 2024/795:
- establishes a strategic technologies for Europe platform (STEP) to support critical and emerging strategic technologies and their respective value chains in relevant sectors;
- sets out:
- STEP objectives and financing,
- rules for implementing the STEP Seal (known in the regulation as the Sovereignty Seal) and the STEP portal,
- reporting rules on the STEP objectives.
KEY POINTS
The STEP objectives are:
- supporting the development or manufacturing of critical technologies in the EU and safeguarding and strengthening their value chains by steering funding across 11 European Union (EU) programmes in three target investment areas:
- digital technologies,
- clean and resource-efficient technologies,
- biotechnologies, including medicinal products;
- addressing shortages of labour and skills critical for all kinds of quality jobs, especially through lifelong learning, education and training, in close cooperation with social partners and existing programmes.
The regulation stipulates:
- that technologies are critical when they meet either of the following conditions:
- they bring to the market an innovative, emerging and cutting-edge element with significant economic potential to the single market, or
- they contribute to reducing or preventing the EU’s strategic dependencies;
- the value chain for the development or manufacturing of critical technologies related to final products, to specific components and specific machinery used for the production of critical raw materials and to the associated critical and specific services.
More details on the scope of STEP are provided in a Commission Communication published in all EU languages on .
Funding
STEP uses a mix of financial incentives and measures to leverage funding from:
- existing EU programmes, including cohesion policy funds, InvestEU, Horizon Europe, the European Defence Fund, the Innovation Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU4Health programme and the digital Europe programme;
- an additional €1.5 billion from the European Defence Fund to boost defence investment capacity.
STEP Seal
The European Commission awards the STEP Seal to projects contributing to any of the STEP objectives, provided they meet certain criteria. This seal:
- is used as a quality label, especially for:
- support under another EU programme,
- financing through cumulative or combined funding from another EU source,
- EU Member States to consider such schemes as priority projects in their recovery and resilience plans and Modernisation Fund investments;
- must comply with the EU State aid rules and international obligations;
- is valid for the lifetime of the project, but lapses if the project has not started within 5 years of the award or is relocated outside the EU.
The Commission:
- promotes the STEP Seal to enhance a project’s visibility;
- sets up and manages the STEP portal;
- liaises with national authorities and other relevant stakeholders, exchanging information on financial needs, bottlenecks and best practice;
- fosters contacts across the technology sectors;
- promotes consistency, coherence, synergy and complementarity among EU programmes to support STEP projects.
STEP portal
On , the Commission launched a dedicated, publicly available website (the STEP portal) to increase the visibility of STEP projects, updating it on a regular basis. This contains:
- information on relevant EU programmes and calls for proposals and tenders;
- details on the projects awarded the STEP Seal;
- details on the projects identified as strategic under the net-zero industry and critical raw materials acts;
- details on the national contact points Member States had to appoint by .
The Commission:
- monitors details on the implementation of STEP, submitting a publicly available report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union;
- will provide the two institutions with an interim evaluation report by .
The regulation amends Directive 2003/87/EC (see summary) and Regulations (EU) 2021/1058 (see summary), 2021/1056, 2021/1057 (see summary), 2021/1060 (see summary), 2021/523, 2021/695, 2021/697 and 2021/241 and (EU) Nos 1303/2013 (see summary) and 223/2014 (see summary).
FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?
It has applied since .
BACKGROUND
STEP is designed to help ensure the EU’s sovereignty and security, reduce its dependency in strategic sectors, strengthen its competitiveness and accelerate the transition towards a green and digital economy.
For further information, see:
- Strategic technologies for Europe platform (European Commission).
- Guidance note concerning certain provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 establishing the strategic technologies for Europe platform (STEP) (European Commission).
MAIN DOCUMENT
Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council of establishing the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and amending Directive 2003/87/EC and Regulations (EU) 2021/1058, (EU) 2021/1056, (EU) 2021/1057, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) 2021/1060, (EU) 2021/523, (EU) 2021/695, (EU) 2021/697 and (EU) 2021/241 (OJ L, 2024/795, ).
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