The Commission’s proposal to finance EU industry through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (‘STEP’) is not convincing MEPs. One month after the Commission’s proposal for a mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (see EUROPE 13205/3), the members of the Budget and Industry Committees discussed STEP and the amounts to be allocated to it with the Head of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget, Stéphanie Riso, on Wednesday 19 July.
All the political groups agree on the same assessment: the €10 billion of new money proposed by the Commission to be injected into STEP is not enough. “The United States is using a cannon and you are replying with a water pistol”, complained Dimítrios Papadimoúlis (The Left). He was referring to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is distributing some $370 billion to green industrial projects.
For Christian Ehler (EPP, German), it is worrying to see that STEP is supporting projects linked not only to clean technologies, but also to deep tech and biotechnology. “How can this be consistent with the Net Zero Emissions Industry Act (‘NZIA’)? This is all new”, declared Mr Ehler, who is a rapporteur for the NZIA.
As for the amount allocated, Stéphanie Riso noted that things need to be considered within their context: the possibility of having this extra €10 billion in the budget is already “anything but certain”. Indeed, Member States are generally opposed to the idea of injecting new money into industrial projects. “Instead, they are asking us to look at how we can better redeploy funds”, explained Ms Riso.
She also justified the Commission’s decision not to launch a genuine sovereign wealth fund, as had been announced. Creating a new fund would take between 18 and 24 months at best, she warned. STEP could be a pilot project of sorts, she says: “We believe that what we’ll learn from STEP will inform us for designing potential new proposals in the context of the next MFF.”, she told MEPs. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)