Opening speech by Commissioner Hansen at the Copa-Cogeca, CEPF and Eustafor event on “Boosting competitive and resilient Agricultural and Forest-Based Bioeconomy in the EU”

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me here to discuss with you.

You, representatives of farmers and foresters, represent the basis of the EU Bioeconomy – production of biomass - and you play a key role in upscaling the circular bioeconomy – you should also benefit fully from it.

The process leading to a new EU Bioeconomy Strategy is at a final stage. My colleague Jessika Roswall has undertaken great efforts to set up an inclusive process with a chance for the civil society to share their expertise. In the call for evidence, we received more than 440 well elaborated responses and position papers. This is impressive!  

My services and my Cabinet have worked intensively on the drafting of the new Bioeconomy strategy, together with the lead Cabinet and services – always bringing the aspect of farmers and foresters on the table. I am very grateful for my colleague Jessika for the cooperation we have had on this very important subject.

As I envisaged in my Vision for Agriculture and Food, bioeconomy offers great potential for agriculture, forestry and the entire food system. Bio-based solutions, biomanufacturing, innovation – these all mean a new biobased economy for us – and new economic opportunities for farmers and foresters.

And speaking about that – money - the strategy must open a perspective for new income opportunities, value chains and business models for European farmers and foresters and thereby support growth and competitiveness also in our rural areas.

Bioeconomy can play an important role to substitute fossil-based materials, and the strategy should explore promising lead markets.

The strategy will recognise the central role of primary producers in the value chain and aims to support the scaling-up of innovative solutions.

I strongly believe that we should refrain from introducing new regulations that would create additional administrative burden. Rather, we should recognize that European farm and forest products are already subject to sustainability criteria which are among the highest in the world. We need to remove barriers and strive for simplification while ensuring fair competition with imported biomass. Bioeconomy will be successful only if our farmers and foresters receive fair economic returns and their daily work is not hampered by excessive bureaucracy and reporting obligations.

I expect the Strategy to be adopted in November. We are still putting a final touch on the paper, so, I cannot give you a detailed outline of the final strategy. But I can share some reflections from my side that I expect to be addressed:

The Commission is committed to boosting European competitiveness and reaching the net zero i.e. a climate neutral continent by 2050 with innovation, technology and skills as driving forces of a market-based economy. The Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal identify the bioeconomy, bio-based sectors and biomanufacturing as key due to their potential to substitute fossil-based feedstock and to reduce dependencies on imported raw materials.

What do I see as key issues for our EU Bioeconomy Strategy:

While bioeconomy is a broad concept ranging from agriculture, food, forest and aquatic resources to bioenergy, biomaterials and ecosystem services, a strategy must focus and develop strategic perspectives. It must focus on areas which contribute most to our common objectives and where Europe has competencies and potential. We therefore need to identify lead markets. I would like to give you some examples:

Bio-based construction materials can reduce reliance on CO2 intensive materials such as concrete and steel. Wood-based products are key and innovation, such as bio-carbon fibres, is driving this traditional sector. But also, bio-based construction and insulation materials derived from hemp, straw, wool and other agricultural residues can play a greater role.

Biogas and bio-based fertilizers processed from the digestate of biogas installations could be another lead-market. RENURE type fertilizers perfectly demonstrate the idea of circularity within the agricultural sector and how to reduce our dependencies on imported chemical fertilizers or imported fossil feedstock. Modern co-generation and fermentation technology open-up the perspective to scale-up. The CAP can provide the instruments to support on-farm and co-operative investments, thereby valorising the residues and creating new income.

Bioplastics and biopolymers could be a third example of a promising bioeconomy lead market. The options to replace fossil polymers range from sugar, starch, wood-based lignin, to bio-based captured CO2. This can create a significant demand for agricultural and forest residues, provided that the downstream chemical industry will source its bio-based feedstock in Europe and not from imports which are often less sustainable. There is also a high potential for biodegradable and biobased plastics, e.g. for the use as mulch films in agriculture. This shows again the circularity of plastics made from agriculture and potentially used for agriculture.

Investment in supply chains and in innovative technologies is key. The focus must be on scale-up, but also on enabling primary producers to participate.

The current CAP, as well as the future CAP include instruments to support investment of farmers and forest holders. The CAP also stimulates “cooperative entrepreneurship” in bioeconomy projects, via producer groups, or also via the EIP-AGRI (European Innovation Program).

In addition, the Commission will continue to support research and innovation, e.g. in the CBE-Joint undertaking, which leverages 2 billion Euro, or the newly proposed European Competitiveness Fund, with a 22.6 billion Euro window dedicated to bioeconomy, agriculture, biotech and health. This in addition to the almost 20bn for the same topics under the Horizon research framework programme.

In all these instruments, we need to ensure that farmers, foresters and rural areas in general are benefitting from upscaling and the value added created. Many of the enterprises operating in the bioeconomy are located or have very close links to our rural areas. Local valorisation of biomass will drive economic growth and development, and it will create sustainable and resilient communities.  

An often-quoted issue is the availability of sustainable biomass. Some actors speak about a biomass gap which could occur in 2040 or 2050.  However, in a dynamic market economy, the expectation of additional demand in the future should stimulate additional supply, which is good for farmers and forest holders. At this moment, I do not see a need to for specific regulation to restrict or cap the use of biomass for material purposes.

As regards forestry biomass, the latest JRC biomass report shows that harvesting rates are at 60% of annual net increment for broadleaves and at 80-90% for conifers. This shows that, with regional differences, there is considerable potential for more biomass from our forests.

By respecting the principles of Sustainable Forest Management, according to the concept of Forest Europe, we should be able to maintain multifunctional forests that provide biomass for the bioeconomy, ecosystem services and a natural carbon sink. However, it will be necessary to be realistic and to acknowledge that the yearly carbon sink function of the forests might not be able to match previous expectations and projections.

The discussion about new sustainability criteria is closely linked to the availability of enough biomass. Let me be very clear: The EU agricultural biomass, in forestry as well as in agriculture, is produced under rigorous regulatory frameworks on national (forestry) and EU level (CAP, food and feed safety, animal welfare). I dont see need to add new regulatory frameworks.

In addition to all what I have mentioned, I would like to raise the importance of bioenergy in our bioeconomy which is important for our farmers and foresters and the balanced approach is needed also in this field.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope that I was able to give you a first flavour about what to expect from the upcoming bioeconomy strategy. I wish you fruitful discussions at todays conference.

Thank you for your attention!