2012: Make or Break Year for a Leading EU Bioeconomy

In 2010, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, presented the Europe for 2020 growth strategy, which created a framework through which an ambitious series of goals—economic, societal, and environmental—were to be achieved by the end of the decade. ¹ No other industry sits more comfortably than biotechnology at the intersection of these policy goals. It is an industry that is at the heart of the new economic model for Europe of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth, in line with the European Commission's 2020 Flagship Initiatives. These include the Innovation Union, Resource Efficiency, and Industrial Policy for a Globalised Era, and are tools that European industry and policy makers are using to boost growth and jobs in Europe by 2020. Within each initiative, both the European Union (EU) and its national authorities are required to coordinate their efforts so that they are mutually reinforcing.

Industrial biotechnology is fast growing and has been identified as a Key Enabling Technology by the EU Commission in making the shift towards a greener, more sustainable bioeconomy in the EU. The bioeconomy itself has an estimated value of €2 trillion (USD2.6 trillion) and employs about 22 million Europeans. It offers Europe the potential to accelerate its transition towards a new economic model while at the same time developing a high-value, globally competitive sector capable of generating good quality jobs in rural as well as urban settings. However, to take advantage of the unique opportunities presented by industrial biotechnology, it is essential that the EU develops holistic and workable policy measures that support research and innovation in the bioeconomy.

A number of critical policy developments are currently under discussion in the field of Industrial Biotechnology. These include the recently published legal proposal on the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2013-2020; the launch of the new Common Strategic Framework Programme for research and innovation funding in Europe for 2014-2020, entitled Horizon 2020; and the soon-to-be-launched Bioeconomy Strategy. Furthermore, there is optimism that with the appointment of the first ever European Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr. Anne Glover, a strong focus on economic growth through scientific innovation will increasingly be nurtured within the EU.

At this crucial time for industry, what are needed are the right policies to ensure that a supportive and predictable political, regulatory, and financial framework is in place, leading to access to renewable feedstocks, increased funding for research and innovation, and market initiatives for biobased products to boost the sustainable growth of the bioeconomy (Table 1). The transition towards a bioeconomy, driven by the production of renewable biomass, represents the shift towards more resource-efficient, innovation-driven products and processes. If Europe is serious about developing a robust bioeconomy, it will require sustainable access to feedstocks in sufficient quantities, of guaranteed quality, and at competitive prices. Essentially, this should be done without disrupting the food supply. This should be possible, as it is estimated that 500 million hectares of land are available worldwide for sustainable biomass production without competing with food production or requiring deforestation or the use of artificial irrigation. ²

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Table 1.

Five key policy needs to build a strong European bioeconomy

Access to feedstock – reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, 2014–2020

1. Support the establishment and optimization of infrastructures and logistical capabilities to mobilize biomass in an environmentally and economically sustainable way

2. Encourage and support farmers in investing in new dedicated biomass crops for biobased products production, as is already done in the US with the Biomass Crop Assistance Program

Research and innovation- Horizon 2020

3. Support by the EU member states of the next framework program for research and innovation as proposed by the European Commission, including strong support for biotechnology, the bioeconomy, and public-private partnerships in the area of pilot and demonstration biorefinery facilities.

Market support

4. Implement the top 15 recommendations of the Lead Market Initiative for biobased products to create a market pull for biobased products

Communication

5. Improve awareness of the benefits of the bioeconomy among investors, industry, consumers, and policy makers through dedicated communication programs.

The focus of the CAP is therefore of great significance; with no feedstock there can be no sustainable bioeconomy. ³ In turn, a thriving bioeconomy would provide real benefit to Europe's farmers and rural economies, bringing new business and job opportunities, which are essential if Europe is to become agriculturally and scientifically more competitive as well as self-sufficient. The support for science and innovation outlined by the Commission in the CAP proposal is especially welcomed by EuropaBio and its members. Equally, the inclusion of the bioeconomy as an objective that should be supported by the rural development policy within the new CAP represents an important conceptual step that must be supported in practice by the EU Council of Ministers and European Parliament. Ultimately, these politicians and regulators will play a vital role in ensuring that these measures, in support of the bioeconomy, go beyond mere words of support. To deliver on this vision, the tools needed, such as infrastructure development, a focus on also developing non-food crops, improved cropping systems on underutilized land, logistical capabilities, funding for biorefineries, access to new technologies, and financial risk management, will be indispensable.

With the European Commission's adoption of its new Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation, Europe has taken a decisive step towards integrating biotechnology into its policy-making process. Biotechnology is now central to the main aims of Horizon 2020: tackling societal challenges; creating industrial leadership; and increasing excellence in research, development, and innovation in Europe. Horizon 2020 listed the bioeconomy as one of the main grand challenges that future EU research and innovation policy should tackle. In addition, biotechnology is highlighted as one of the six enabling technologies that will be further supported by increased funding. The proposed budget for the bioeconomy has more than doubled since the last Framework Programme, from €2 billion (USD2.5 billion) to €4.7 billion (USD6.2 billion). Horizon 2020 also aims to create synergies between the different EU funding instruments, policies, and governance with a focus on meeting societal challenges. In the case of industrial biotechnology, funding for pilot and demonstration plants is also crucial for bridging the gap from research to commercialization of EU innovation.

Securing increased funding through Horizon 2020 will represent a significant advance towards achieving the EU 2020 goals, but this must be coupled with a long term political commitment across a broad range of policy sectors, including agriculture, climate action, energy, trade, and the environment to make a decisive and impactful shift towards a bioeconomy. This is where the role of the new Bioeconomy Strategy, which is due to be launched by Research and Innovation Commisioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn in the first quarter of 2012, comes in to play. Europe needs to break away from traditional compartmentalized approaches to policy and funding, and instead should create synergies between member states, governance, and funding instruments. The good news is that the Bioeconomy Strategy has the potential to make this happen. It should be a strong, coherent, and fundamentally holistic strategy that funds and supports the development of biobased products and processes and the necessary access to feedstock with less fragmentation in funding.

Denmark, which is home to world-leading industrial biotech industries and research centers, holds the reins of the rotating EU Presidency for the first six months of 2012, and hopes are high for harnessing the potential of industrial biotech to create jobs and sustainable growth. With the right support in place, industrial biotechnology can help deliver on the commitments set out in the EU's 2020 Bioeconomy Strategy by providing world-leading scientific excellence and the development of smart, sustainable, and inclusive solutions.