A new proposal from the EU Commission was announced on the 20th of March 2024, which stated that the organisation will be introducing a line of targeted actions. These actions will be implemented with the intention of encouraging and aiding biotechnology and biomanufacturing within the EU.

This new proposal was developed by the Communication on Building the future with nature and the actions that have been suggested have been developed with the idea of tackling the challenges, complications and barriers that have been identified within this area. All of this work will be performed within the boundaries set out by the Communication on the long-term competitiveness of the EU.

The reason for this uptake of interest, is due to the benefits and potential that multiple parties and sectors will see through developing biotechnology and biomanufacturing. Some of these advantages will include things such as, advance in life sciences, which will be supported by digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI). Also, the possible solutions based on biology that could solve societal issues, is another one of the many reasons why biotechnology and biomanufacturing is one of the most important and promising technological areas in today’s society. Furthermore, the development of biotechnology and biomanufacturing will enable the EU to receive the help it needs when it comes to modernizing agriculture, energy, forestry, food and feed sectors and industry. The final benefit within this development is that the technologies will be able to generate a version of the EU that is more competitive and resilient. This will mean that the EU will be able to reach a point where it can provide better healthcare to its citizens, whilst simultaneously beginning to succeed in its green and digital transition pathway.

However, whilst there will be multiple benefits that come with the development of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, there are also obstacles and difficulties to overcome in order to reap these benefits. Thes challenges include the need to transfer research and technology to the market, regulatory complexity, access to finance, skills, value chain obstacles, intellectual property, economic security and finally, public acceptance.

Therefore, taking these factors into account and weighing the benefits against the challenges, is what brough the EU to the set of actions that they will now be setting out. Some examples of this include leveraging research and boosting education, which will involve the Commission investigating the EU’s position in comparison to other global leaders who have recently started emerging in the same field. This will include studying data such as bottlenecks of innovation and particularly of technology adoption. Another action they will be putting in place, is t stimulating market demand, which will mean ensuring that bio-based products are able to prove their lower environmental impact when they are compared to a product such as petrochemical. A large key action that the organisation has stated they will include, will be strengthening bio-tech related skills, meaning that they will be considering large-scale and regional skills partnerships and will also put in place ways for new and expanding partnerships to be made.

Other actions the EU will take include, streamlining regulatory pathways and fostering public and private investments, elaborating and updating standards, supporting collaboration and synergies, fostering engagement and international cooperation, using AI and generative AI and finally, the EU will continuously review the Bioeconomy strategy.

To find out more, please visit the link below:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1668

47554adc-dffc-411b-8cd6-b52417514cb3_en (europa.eu)