Europe bets on the bioeconomy: a strategy that reflects AseBio’s vision

The bioeconomy is no longer a future promise: it is here and it is driving the European economy. This was highlighted by Jessica Roswall, Sweden’s Minister for European Affairs, at the Competitiveness Council on 27 November: “The bioeconomy is not science fiction, it is here and now.” We are talking about a sector that generates around €2.7 trillion, employs 17.1 million people (for every direct job in the bioeconomy sector, three jobs are created in the European Union) and represents 5% of EU GDP, confirming its role as a driver of sustainable and competitive growth.

This message has taken shape in the strategy “A Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy”, which, based on the contributions received through several public consultations, sets out an ambitious roadmap to build a sustainable, nature-positive bioeconomy. The strategy aims to accelerate innovation, remove regulatory barriers and position Europe as a leader in biological and sustainable solutions. It is structured around four pillars:

• Scaling up innovation and investment: removing obstacles, speeding up authorisations through fast tracks, creating regulatory sandboxes and a Regulators and Innovators Forum, and mobilising funding through the Bioeconomy Investment Deployment Group.
• Creating lead markets for bio-based materials and technologies: promoting bio-based plastics, textiles, chemicals, construction products, fertilisers and biopesticides, together with technologies such as biorefineries and advanced fermentation. Targets are envisaged for plastics, durability requirements for textiles, and the Bio-based Europe Alliance, which will bring together companies for joint procurement worth €10 billion by 2030.
• Ensuring the sustainable supply of biomass across all value chains: promoting efficient and cascading use, strengthening circularity, avoiding bio-waste and closing nutrient cycles. This includes measures for bio-based fertilisers, plant protection products and the valorisation of agri-food by-products, which are essential for food security and the feed industry.
• Harnessing global opportunities: securing strategic partnerships, access to international markets and shared governance for a sustainable bioeconomy at a global scale.

At AseBio, we welcome the fact that this strategy incorporates principles we advocated in our response to the public consultation: regulatory streamlining, harmonisation and updating; sustainability criteria and cascading use; increased funding for industrial scale-up, financing startups, and demand creation through green public procurement. Although the Commission broadens the focus to sectors such as construction, textiles and fertilisers, while AseBio has placed greater emphasis on agri-food and new protein sources, we see these differences as complementary, as the bioeconomy is a plural space that needs all solutions.

In short, the new European bioeconomy strategy and the political message that accompanies it confirm that the bioeconomy is key to Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and strategic autonomy. Many of our proposals have been echoed in this roadmap, and we embrace the challenge of continuing to work so that Spain and its companies play a leading role in this transformation.