Euroactive Publishes Press Release on new EU Biobased Industry Initiative

Today the European Commission adopts a new proposed €3.8 billion Public Private Partnership for Biobased industries in Europe, aimed at ensuring smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and at enabling Europe to become a world-leading Innovation Union . The proposal comes as part of an innovation investment package of new Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) under Horizon 2020.

At the announcement, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “These initiatives not only strengthen our economy, they are an investment in a better quality of life. Working together will enable us to tackle issues that no one company or country can deal with alone.”

The Biobased Industries PPP, also known as ‘BRIDGE’ – Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe – is a multi-sector initiative whose vision is that of a society and economy which increasingly makes everyday products, such as food, feed, textiles, chemicals and fuels, from locally sourced biomass and wastes, rather than from fossil fuels. The initiative will create jobs in a broad range of sectors in Europe, triggering rural growth across regions whilst placing sustainability and the smart and efficient use of resources at its heart. In doing so, it will also aim to overcome the EU’s so-called ‘innovation valley of death’ by bridging the gap between excellence in technology and success through EU commercialisation of biobased products.

Nathalie Moll, EuropaBio Secretary General stated: “For far too long the EU’s industry leaders in Industrial Biotechnology, which is a key enabler of the broader biobased economy, have had to seek support and investment overseas. Crucially this has meant that the benefits of cutting edge EU technology are reaped elsewhere.  Today’s announcement is a positive sign that the EU is seeking to reverse this trend, though initiatives such as the biobased industries PPP. It is now crucial that the European Parliament and Member States support this proposal”

DSM’s Stephan Tanda, Chair of EuropaBio’s Industrial Biotechnology Council concluded:  “The proposal put forward today for a biobased industries PPP is a major milestone on the journey towards a smarter, more sustainable, more innovative EU economy. It underscores the commitment of both the Commission and of Industry to work together with a broad community of European stakeholders, from farmers to foresters, to scientists to citizens in the development of a world leading EU biobased economy.”

For more information you can access the BRIDGE website here.