EU ministers pave the way to stronger incentives for bioeconomy

Farm Europe welcomes the adoption of the Council Conclusions on the European Commission’s Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy. This constitutes an important step forward in strengthening and scaling Europe’s bioeconomy, unlocking innovation, investment and sustainable European production of biomass.

The conclusions rightly place stronger emphasis on the efficient use of biomass, recognising the integrated nature of bioeconomy value chains and their industrial processes, as it is the case for biorefineries, that simultaneously produce multiple outputs. This approach better reflects the reality of modern bio-based industries, than the cascading principle, and allows for optimisation of biomass use across materials, chemicals, food, feed and energy products. 

The text also includes a renewed ambition to develop a sustainable European production of biomass, acknowledging that a resilient and competitive bioeconomy requires a robust domestic supply base. Therefore, safeguarding EU agriculture’s capacity to produce sustainable biomass is crucial both for climate objectives and for reducing dependency on fossil-based resources. This is why the conclusions rightfully highlight the strategic role of the agri-food sector within the bioeconomy and the importance of enabling farmers to participate in higher value-added value chains. 

Another key element is the clear recognition of biorefineries among the core bio-based solutions for scaling innovation and industrial deployment. In this way, the Council acknowledges the importance of industrial platforms capable of transforming biomass into a wide range of high-value products, thus maximising value creation in Europe. However, scaling-up can only be achieved through significant investments and market measures to stimulate demand for bio-based products, both of which are cited as priorities by EU ministers.

Finally, the conclusions rightly recognise the role of sustainable bioenergy in the EU energy mix. While this recognition is welcome, Farm Europe considers that the current cap on crop-based biofuels should be reconsidered in future policy revisions in order to fully harness the contribution of sustainable agricultural feedstocks to the energy transition.

In sum, Farm Europe believes that these conclusions provide a constructive basis for the forthcoming initiatives of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, where farmers and biorefiners should be put at the centre of the scene. This step forward should pave the way for concrete regulatory developments via concrete market opportunities for the multiple streams of bioeconomy products.