Commissioner Roswalls speech at the event, Circular Choices: A circular bioeconomy for growth and innovation hosted by Cepi

Dear friends, colleagues,

I am delighted to join you today, and I must say that the title of this event resonates strongly with me.

As the Commission President said in her State of the Union Speech just a few days ago, we are facing significant geopolitical, economic, environmental and climate challenges.

In this new reality, key principles like circularity, sustainability, resilience and innovation can guide our transition from a faltering, wasteful system to one that is future proofed.

A transition to a circular system that benefits companies and communities, economies and ecosystems.

CEPI and the Circular Choices coalition are important players in this transition.

You are a cornerstone of Europes forest-based bioeconomy. You have pioneered low-carbon manufacturing, led the way on recycling and resource efficiency, and shown how innovation can transform traditional industries into champions of circularity and clean growth.

In many ways, circularity is not a choice at all. It is urgent, necessary and even inevitable.

It represents a deliberate move to a more competitive, more resilient and more sustainable future, with less waste, less vulnerability, and more value.

And it holds the promise of great opportunity for businesses and citizens across the EU.

This is clear when it comes to the bioeconomy, where the untapped market potential is significant. Its current market share of EU GDP is around 5%, but growing.

As a Swede, nobody had to convince me about the bioeconomy.

Still, in the few months since I have been European Commissioner I have learnt so much more about how broad and exciting the bioeconomy is:

I saw how a car interior can look just like plastics or leather

but be made 100% out of bio-based materials.

I learnt about bio-pesticides, and enzymes that have the potential to replace many of our traditional, non-biodegradable products.

I visited farmers who were excited about biogas not just in Sweden or Finland, but also just a few kilometres from here, in Flanders.

The Bioeconomy Lab exhibition you organised in Brussels where you show-cased over 50 bio-based, recyclable innovations.

All the people I met told me about the opportunities they see:

Europe, with its strong focus on biobased and sustainable materials, is the place to be for innovative businesses. For you to develop and scale up, create jobs, and form new innovation clusters.

You see the potential to create new revenue sources and diversify income streams for farmers, foresters and land managers.

Like you do, I see those opportunities. And I see that Europe can take a leading role to scale them up.

This is why I will prepare a new Bioeconomy strategy by the end of the year.

At the moment, my team is carefully evaluating the various responses: we received 326 through a public consultation and 444 through a call for evidence.

The EU excels at innovation. But too often, we dont do enough to turn those ideas into thriving businesses.

That needs to change. We need to support people who take risks – and the forest-based bioeconomy sector is an innovation hub that will benefit from this effort.

But we also have to be demand-driven.

The new Bioeconomy Strategy will focus on creating a level-playing field for bio-based products and materials coming from the forestry-based industry.

However, we also must maximise resource efficiency.

That means greater circular use of biological resources, and reducing our reliance on fossil-based and non-renewable inputs – something that I know the Circular Choices Coalition is working on already.

Together, we need to change how we value and use resources like biomass, so that it stays in the value chain for as long as possible.

We have to secure a competitive and sustainable supply of biomass, both domestically and from outside EU, and that starts with reinforcing the role of primary producers.

We also have to manage our natural resources – carefully, sustainably, and responsibly. Protecting them both for business and for future generations.

Healthy ecosystems and a healthy environment are the foundations for a profitable industry and sustainable employment.

So, we need to reward those who preserve ecosystems and this is where our work on nature credits comes in.

Dear friends,

There is no doubt that this is an ambitious agenda at a challenging time. But this is also Europes opportunity.

The potential is massive, and I see inspiration everywhere.

Your work and your commitment to circularity is a lesson to us all.

And I want to thank you for your invaluable contributions and participation in the preparation of the Strategy.

Public-Private partnerships such as the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking are also important sources of innovation, collaboration and inspiration.

The new Bioeconomy Strategy will build on these efforts.

We are talking about a political choice to shape Europes future.

By investing in sustainable growth, circular innovation, and our strategic autonomy, we are showing that Europe can lead the global transition and secure prosperity for generations to come.

This can be Europes success story, and I assure you that I will be with you at every step.

Now, I wish you an insightful event and I look forward to working closely with you.

Thank you.