11 Jan 2024
Council agrees on partial negotiating mandate for Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP)
Member states’ EU ambassadors agreed on the Council’s partial negotiating mandate on the proposed Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) on 10 January 2024.
The platform will support investments in critical technologies in the fields of digital and deep tech, clean tech and biotech in the EU. It will reduce the EU’s strategic dependencies and enhance its long-term competitiveness.
The Council’s negotiating mandate is partial, because its position on additional financial support for STEP will depend on the final outcome of the horizontal negotiations on the mid-term revision of the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. In its mandate, the Council clarifies the objectives and scope of STEP, and confirms its support for the proposed sovereignty seal and sovereignty portal for STEP-related investments.
The partial mandate agreed today will serve as a basis for negotiations on STEP with the European Parliament. Once an agreement with the Parliament is reached, the regulation will need to be formally adopted by the Council and the European Parliament.
The Commission proposed the creation of a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform on 20 June 2023 as part of its package of proposals related to the mid-term revision of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027.
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