The Commission has published the first projects that were awarded a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Seal, a quality label which gives more visibility to promising projects in clean and resource-efficient tech, and deep and digital tech. This label will help attract additional EU public and private funding and support services.

The first 130 projects that were awarded the STEP Seal[1] aim to develop cutting-edge clean technologies with a focus on energy and industry (Innovation Fund), and digital technologies for space-related applications (Horizon Europe/Space). Examples of breakthrough innovations include the development of components for offshore wind towers (Poland), first-of-a-kind sea freight service powered by hydrogen cells (Netherlands), manufacturing of photovoltaic modules (Italy), CO2 Capture for Storage technologies (Denmark) and radiation-resistant integrated circuits for in-space applications (multi-country).

STEP Seals are awarded by the European Commission to all projects contributing to STEP objectives that meet the quality requirements in the calls for proposals under five programmes funded by the EU budget: Innovation Fund, Digital Europe Programme, European Defence Fund, EU4Health programme, and Horizon Europe. 

Projects awarded a STEP Seal are listed on the STEP Portal. The Commission will actively promote these projects among public funding bodies, e.g. managing authorities of Cohesion Policy Funds and of the Recovery and Resilience Plans in Member States, and among private investors.