STEP: Invitation of the E.U. to businesses to record their needs up to 2027

On March 1, 2024 regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and the Council, for the establishment of the strategic platform technologies for Europe (STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR EUROPE PLATFORM – STEP) which was specified by the Note Guidance.

The STEP platform is a specialized website that includes funding programs, European and national, with the aim of continuously informing and providing combined funding of innovative technological solutions to create European chains value. In this way the STEP platform supports investments aimed at strengthening industrial development and value chains, resulting in reducing the Union’s strategic dependencies, strengthening its sovereignty and economic security and addressing labor and skills shortages in these strategic sectors. This will improve the long-term competitiveness of the Union and strengthen its resilience.

The main goals of STEP

• Supporting the development or production of critical technologies in the Union, or securing and strengthening their respective value chains
• Tackling the workforce and skills shortages that are critical for all kinds of quality jobs in support of the first objective.

Through STEP, support for the development and production of critical technologies is provided in three areas:

• In innovation in the fields of digital and ultra-advanced technology
• In clean and resource-efficient technologies
• In biotechnologies

STEP also supports technologies that are related to the Net-Zero Industry Act (The Net-Zero Industry Act – NZIA) and the Critical Raw Materials Act (Critical Raw Materials Act – CRMA).

The support through STEP concerns various stages of business development, from applied research to the production of special production equipment and is aimed at both small and medium, and big businesses. Also, in regional aid, additional funding (STEP bonus) is provided, 5%-10%, depending on the Region where the investment is implemented.

Step funding conditions

Article 2, paragraph 2 of the STEP Regulation states that technologies are considered critical when they meet one of the following conditions:

• They bring to the domestic market an innovative, emerging cutting edge element with significant economic potential
• Contribute to the reduction or prevention of strategic dependencies of the Union

Eleven programs and funds of the Union are related to the implementation of STEP:

• the Digital Europe program
• the European Defense Fund
• the EU4Health
• the “Horizon Europe” program
• the Innovation Fund
• the InvestEU
• the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism
• the Cohesion Fund
• the European Regional Development Fund
• το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινωνικό Ταμείο+ (ΕΚΤ+)
• the Just Transition Fund

The “mastery seal” (STEP Seal) is awarded to projects submitted to the 5 “direct management” programs by the Commission (Horizon Europe, Innovation Fund, European Defense Fund, Digital Europe Programme, EU4Health) and received a very high score during the selection process. These works:

• whether they secured European funding and through the “stamp” they can receive additional funding from NSRF announcements of the member state
• whether they did not secure European funding due to exhaustion of available resources, but through the “stamp”, they are granted privileged and simplified access to funding from special calls in the NSRF 2021-2027.

It is recalled that an important element of STEP is the financial incentives for the orientation of cohesion policy funds to investments in critical technologies. This will help all Member States to develop their capabilities and help create a level playing field for investment in critical technologies in the single market. Consequently, the STEP policy represents an important opportunity to change the production pattern, so that Greek companies can innovate and become part of the competitive “value chains” of the European Union.

The Ministry of National Economy and Finance invites interested bodies to fill in the <a … that are active and the technologies they produce, until November 22, 2024.