STEP Opens New Funding Routes for Europe’s Strategic Technologies

What is STEP?

The Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform — STEP is an EU initiative designed to strengthen Europe’s industrial capacity, technological sovereignty and resilience in sectors considered essential to its competitiveness and security.

STEP does not operate as a separate funding programme. Instead, it coordinates and redirects resources available through 11 existing EU programmes, making them more focused and flexible for investments in strategic technologies, their manufacturing capacity and the skills required to develop and deploy them.

The platform is intended to help promising European technologies move from development towards industrial production and market deployment. STEP primarily targets projects at Technology Readiness Levels 4 to 9, although the precise eligibility conditions depend on the programme and call concerned.

Official information and current opportunities are available through the STEP Portal.


The Four STEP Technology Sectors

STEP supports investments in four broad areas of strategic technology.

1. Digital Technologies and Deep-Tech Innovation

This area covers technologies that are critical to Europe’s digital transformation, industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy, including:

• advanced semiconductors and microelectronics;
• artificial intelligence and high-performance computing;
• cloud and edge computing;
• quantum computing, communications and sensing;
• cybersecurity and secure connectivity;
• advanced sensors;
• robotics and autonomous systems;
• space-based navigation, communications and observation technologies.

STEP can support both the development of these technologies and the expansion of the manufacturing capacity required to produce them in Europe.

2. Clean and Resource-Efficient TechnologiesSTEP supports technologies contributing to the clean transition, energy security, industrial decarbonisation and the efficient use of strategic resources.

Eligible areas may include:

• solar, wind and other renewable-energy technologies;
• batteries and energy-storage systems;
• heat pumps and geothermal technologies;
• hydrogen production and fuel cells;
• carbon capture, storage, transport and utilisation;
• electricity grids and charging infrastructure;
• advanced materials and manufacturing;
• critical raw-material extraction, processing and recycling;
• circular-economy technologies;
• water purification and desalination;
• sustainable fuels and industrial decarbonisation solutions.

Projects must contribute to the development or manufacturing of technologies considered critical for the EU economy and the green transition.

3. BiotechnologiesSTEP covers biotechnologies with applications in health, agriculture, food production, industrial processes, energy and the wider bioeconomy.

Relevant technologies include:

• DNA and RNA technologies;
• genomics and genetic engineering;
• gene and cell therapies;
• protein and peptide production;
• tissue engineering and bioprinting;
• fermentation and bioprocessing;
• advanced therapy medicinal products;
• bioinformatics and personalised genomics;
• nanobiotechnology;
• biosensing and bioremediation.

These technologies may be particularly important for strengthening European production of medicines, medical products and other critical biological technologies.

4. Defence TechnologiesFollowing the extension of STEP to defence-related investments, the platform also covers technologies linked to European defence capabilities and military readiness.

Areas include:

• air and missile defence;
• artillery, missiles and ammunition;
• drones and counter-drone systems;
• cyber-defence and electronic warfare;
• military applications of artificial intelligence;
• secure space and communication systems;
• protection of critical infrastructure;
• military mobility and logistics;
• maritime, ground and air combat systems;
• defence-related medical and CBRN technologies.

Defence-related projects remain subject to the specific eligibility, ownership, security and participation rules of the relevant EU programme.


Which Projects Can Qualify?

A project may fall within the scope of STEP when it contributes to the development or manufacturing of a critical technology and meets at least one of two main conditions:

1. it introduces an innovative, emerging or cutting-edge element with significant economic potential in the Single Market; or
2. it contributes to reducing or preventing strategic dependencies of the European Union.

Support may also cover services, components, machinery, facilities, raw materials and specialised skills that are indispensable to developing or manufacturing the relevant technology.
However, STEP does not create a single set of eligibility rules. Every application remains subject to the conditions of the specific programme and call under which funding is requested.


How STEP Funding Works

STEP mobilises resources from 11 EU programmes.

Programmes providing grants and access to the STEP Seal

• Horizon Europe;
• Digital Europe Programme;
• European Defence Fund;
• EU4Health;
• Innovation Fund.

Programmes providing additional or complementary forms of funding

• European Regional Development Fund;
• European Social Fund Plus;
• Just Transition Fund;
• Cohesion Fund;
• Recovery and Resilience Facility;
• InvestEU.

Support may take the form of grants, equity, loans, guarantees, procurement or other financial instruments. In some cases, resources from different programmes may be combined, provided that the applicable rules on cumulative funding and eligible costs are respected.

By 30 May 2026, STEP covered €29.8 billion in allocated funding across its 11 contributing programmes. This included €14.6 billion managed directly by the European Commission and €15.2 billion reprogrammed by Member States and regions through cohesion-policy funds.

Applicants can search for open and forthcoming opportunities through the official STEP funding dashboard.


The STEP Seal

The STEP Seal, also known as the Sovereignty Seal, is a quality label awarded by the European Commission to high-quality projects evaluated under STEP-relevant calls.

A separate application for the Seal is not required. Projects are assessed for the Seal as part of the evaluation process for calls launched under:

• Horizon Europe;
• Digital Europe;
• EU4Health;
• the European Defence Fund;
• the Innovation Fund.

To receive the Seal, a project must pass the applicable evaluation thresholds, contribute to the objectives of STEP and satisfy the relevant strategic-technology conditions.

The STEP Seal does not automatically guarantee financing. Its practical value is that it can:

• demonstrate that a project has passed a rigorous EU evaluation;
• increase visibility among national authorities and investors;
• facilitate access to complementary or alternative EU funding;
• support consideration under cohesion-policy funds, InvestEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other instruments;
• help attract private investment.

Projects awarded the Seal may also be promoted through the STEP Portal and EU investment platforms.


How to Apply

Project promoters should begin by identifying a call that corresponds to the proposed technology, investment stage and location.
The principal steps are:

1. define the project, technology and planned investment;
2. verify whether it falls within one of the STEP technology sectors;
3. determine whether it contributes to innovation or reduces an EU strategic dependency;
4. identify an appropriate EU, national or regional call;
5. examine the programme-specific eligibility, consortium and funding conditions;
6. prepare and submit the proposal according to the official call documents.

EU-wide calls are generally managed through the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal. National and regional calls follow the procedures established by the relevant managing authority.

Applicants should consult:

• the STEP funding dashboard;
• the STEP technology scope;
• the STEP funding programmes;
• the STEP Seal guidance;
• the European Commission Funding & Tenders Portal.

Why STEP Matters for European Companies and Innovators

STEP creates a more coordinated route to EU support for projects that are commercially promising and strategically important.

For companies, startups, research organisations and public authorities, the initiative can provide:

• access to several EU funding channels through a common strategic framework;
• greater visibility for projects in critical technology sectors;
• opportunities to combine European, national and regional support;
• improved access to investors and financial intermediaries;
• stronger political recognition for investments that reinforce European industrial capacity.

STEP therefore acts as both a funding coordination mechanism and an industrial-policy instrument. Its objective is not only to finance research, but also to help Europe manufacture, scale up and retain critical technologies within the European economy.


eEuropa Support

Identify the Right STEP Funding RouteeEuropa supports companies, innovators, research organisations and public authorities in assessing whether a project may fall within the STEP scope.

Our assistance can include:

• preliminary STEP eligibility and technology assessment;
• identification of relevant EU, national and regional calls;
• analysis of programme and call requirements;
• evaluation of the project’s contribution to EU strategic autonomy;
• funding strategy and project-positioning support;
• monitoring of future STEP opportunities;
• guidance on complementary EU funding instruments.

Contact eEuropa to assess how your technology or investment project could benefit from STEP.