Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning!
Oscar Wilde wrote that a fool is a person who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.
I believe he referred to our materialist society.
But as with many quotes from Oscar Wilde, it has modern significance. Today, when we talk hard economics, it is clear that price is not the same thing as value.
Indeed, more recently, Warren Buffet said “price is what you pay; value is what you get”.
Basically, market prices do not reflect real costs or real values.
Why is this important?
Because the costs that we dont pay are no less real.
External costs are still paid.
Perhaps by the taxpayer, perhaps by society, perhaps by the environment, perhaps by future generations.
Enrico Letta made it clear in his report that we need to internalise these externalities.
We need a level playing field for circular materials, products and services that are more sustainable.
This is not just some abstract economic theory.
This is an existential issue today for many sectors. And it is getting urgent.
Just look at European plastics recyclers – 850 companies with 8.6bn euro in turnover and 30,000 jobs.
Our plastics recyclers are caught between a rock and a hard place.
On one side they compete with virgin plastic that is based on cheap and unpredictable oil prices.
Virgin plastic that is increasingly dumped in Europe due to overcapacity of production elsewhere.
In many cases that production is not meeting the same levels of environmental and social standards that we insist on in Europe.
And it is not providing the quality of recyclates we want to see on our markets.
On the other side, the price at which our recyclers sell their pellets on the market does not recognise the valuable service they provide by dealing with what we throw-away.
What else are we going to do with the waste from the 50 million tonnes of plastics we consume every year in Europe?
Landfill them? Burn them? Export them to places where they are not properly recycled?
And how are we going to meet our targets for recycled content in products – for example in regulations on packaging and vehicles – when recyclers are closing down capacity?
Last year, EU recyclers closed down facilities equivalent to around 300 kilotonnes.
As we try to boost European demand for recycled plastic, are we going to watch that demand being met by imports?
That isnt fair, strategic or sustainable. And we cannot allow it to happen.
Having spoken to the sector in a dedicated stakeholder dialogue in October and discussed with Member States, the Commission has acted quickly with the First Circularity Package, that will be adopted shortly.
This package will take concrete steps to address some of their challenges.
Next year, in the Circular Economy Act, we will take additional steps to get the economics right for plastics.
For example, we need to make sure that extended producer responsibility fees are effectively eco-modulated.
That means that they reflect the relative costs of managing them as waste.
Just this week, we adopted our new Bioeconomy Strategy – another important step in our drive for circularity and competitiveness.
The EUs bioeconomy is a significant contributor already, with a value of about EUR 2.7 trillion in 2023.
It employs 17.2 million people. Thats about 8% of EU jobs.
But if we leverage European-based breakthrough technologies, local entrepreneurial spirit and an enabling regulatory framework, the bioeconomy can offer so much more.
The European Bioeconomy Strategy will help us build a more resilient and competitive economy, while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
We want to lead the biotech revolution, and Europe is full of ideas and innovative solutions.
But too many of them remain small and often forgotten in laboratories. Too few breakthroughs make the leap from innovation to the market.
To unleash this potential the Commission will boost demand for bio-based content in products.
We want to harness the highest possible value from each ton of biological matter.
We need to promote materials and chemicals that are sustainable and locally made.
And we have to overcome our dependence on fossil feedstocks.
Imagine the potential of bio-based construction materials, chemicals, textiles, plastics, and fertilisers.
Or of technologies like bio-refineries and advanced fermentation.
But we also need to remember what lies at the core of the bioeconomy: our natural world.
We have to manage Europes forests, soils, seas and other ecosystems responsibly, and strategically, within ecological limits.
Without healthy ecosystems there is no bioeconomy and without the bioeconomy, Europe cannot meet its climate goals, its competitiveness goals, or its social goals.
We want to reward farmers and foresters for protecting carbon sinks while providing food, materials and energy to the European market.
Our strategy is about resilience.
It is about ensuring that Europe is not dependent on a single region or a single resource.
And it is about creating global rules that reflect European values: circularity, sustainability, fairness.
We are committed to working with Member States, industry, and civil society to make this strategy a success.
A thriving, circular and sustainable bioeconomy provides us with a real alternative to a fossil-based future.
The Circular Economy Act and the Bioeconomy Strategy are part of a systematic effort to build a more competitive economy and a more prosperous society living in a more sustainable world.
In parallel, we are continuing our wider efforts:
- Gradually but progressively driving up the recycling rates in Member States;
- Investing in circular systems and technologies, and providing the framework for private investments;
- Developing Ecodesign requirements to make the products on our market durable, repairable and recyclable;
- Integrating circularity into our industrial and climate policies through the Clean Industrial Deal;
- Working with Member States to ensure effective implementation of two Circular Economy Action Plans and the European Green Deal.
- Collaborating with stakeholders to share the inspirational experiences of Europes leading cities, regions and small businesses in innovative circular business models.
- And working on the international stage to free up international flows of secondary materials and circular products, to share good practices, and to address the great increase in our use of natural resources.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Circularity is not an end in itself, but it is an effective means to many ends.
The circular transition is central in our drive for competitiveness and decarbonisation.
It holds the key to building our economic security and reducing our dependencies and vulnerabilities.
And it offers a sustainable path to greater wellbeing, more quality jobs, a more resilient society, and a cleaner future.
Thank you.
