Today, the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) celebrates its first year. STEP has mobilised over €15 billion to enhance Europes competitiveness in digital, clean, and biotechnologies. €9.1 billion of EU funds have been utilized through five programs: the Digital Europe program, the European Defence Fund, the EU4Health program, Horizon Europe, and the Innovation Fund. An additional €6.1 billion comes from the reprogramming of cohesion funds by 11 EU countries.
The STEP Taskforce collaborates with 27 EU countries, engaging with project promoters and associations to understand investment needs. There is a strong demand for simplified access to EU funding. The STEP Portal offers user-friendly access to funding opportunities. So far, 60 calls for proposals have been published, with 40 still open.
The STEP Taskforce promotes projects with the STEP Seal to private and public investors. Examples of awarded STEP Seals include OpenEuroLLM and Energy Observer 2.
In 2025, further growth is anticipated with support from member states and the NextGenerationEU/Recovery and Resilience Fund. Countries can allocate up to 6% of their RRF budget to STEP projects.