Following their meeting on Wednesday 10 January, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union validated a ‘partial’ political agreement concerning the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (‘STEP’). This platform will support investments in critical technologies in the fields of digital and deep tech, clean tech and biotech.
A ‘partial’ agreement, as several points are still unresolved, notably the total amount of new money allocated to the platform: in the draft compromise validated by the EU27 ambassadors, this appears in square brackets and is reduced to €1.5 billion, a massive cut compared to the Commission’s original proposal of €10 billion.
This funding has been drastically reduced because it is directly linked to the mid-term revision of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see EUROPE 13311/21), on which the Member States failed to reach agreement at the last European Council in December (see EUROPE 13314/2).
They will meet to discuss the issue at a special European summit scheduled for 1 February, which should validate the negotiating framework proposed by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
This cut in the budget is of concern to MEPs, particularly those on the Industry and Budget Committees, who have jointly drawn up a report on the STEP regulation (see EUROPE 13267/9).
The text’s two co-rapporteurs, Christian Ehler (EPP, German) and José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portuguese), expressed their “great disappointment” at the end of the European summit of 14 and 15 December, criticising “negotiations that aim to destroy all efforts to strengthen European competitiveness through STEP”.
Their report, adopted by the plenary session of the European Parliament, increased the platform’s total budget to €13 billion (see EUROPE 13273/23), stressing the “essential” role of STEP in “stimulating European industry and innovation” and contributing to the EU’s strategic autonomy.
The EU Council’s mandate slightly modifies the scope of the text, specifying that “clean and resource-efficient” technologies are to be taken into account and extending it to the deployment and implementation of the various technologies mentioned.
At this stage, the timetable for the trilogue negotiations is not known.
To see the EU Council’s press release: https://aeur.eu/f/abp
To see the partial negotiating mandate: https://aeur.eu/f/abs (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)