EU Sovereignty Finance: Mapping the STEP Platform’s €24 Billion Dual-Use Funding Infrastructure
19 pages · PDF · 21 December 2025 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
In the aftermath of the EU’s 2025 defence readiness mandate, Europe has undertaken a substantive recalibration of its financial architecture, dismantling the long-standing separation between civil and military funding through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform.
By repurposing eleven existing programmes, STEP establishes a horizontal sovereignty window that enables regional, research and investment instruments to converge on high-priority dual-use and defence-relevant technologies. At the centre of this shift is the STEP Seal, which functions as a marker of strategic relevance and accelerates the mobilisation of both public and private capital.
Key questions this report answers
- How does the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) dismantle the civil-military funding separation via a horizontal sovereignty window?
- How does STEP repurpose eleven existing programmes to converge on dual-use and defence-relevant technologies?
- How does the STEP Seal mark strategic relevance and mobilise public and private capital?
- What are the implications of STEP's 24 billion euro dual-use funding infrastructure for beneficiaries and capital?
Who it's for
Bid, compliance and advisory teams working with EU defence funding and procurement instruments, and the counsel who support them.
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Methodology, format & delivery
DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (21 December 2025). You receive a 19-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.
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