The European Commission on Monday (13 February) launched an action plan to improve EU support for the bio-economy – products and services made from biological resources. The plan involves no new funding or legislation, but instead seeks to integrate the EU’s fragmented support policies.

“We’re too slow and too piecemeal in converting research results into innovation,” Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, innovation and sciene, said at a press conference. “Policy measures at European and member state level are often launched in isolation.”

The action plan involves better targeted research funding and more support for public-private partnerships. The EU’s bio-economy already has a turnover of nearly €2 trillion and is responsible for 9% of employment in the EU, the Commission says. These include activities in the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, pulp and paper, chemical and energy sectors. Last year’s Horizon 2020 plan for research funding allocated €4.5 billion to food security, sustainable agriculture and the bio-economy.

“For the first time, the European Commission has a coherent approach for this complex economic and scientific arena and it is supported by several relevant departments of the Commission, including agriculture, environment and industry,” said Lars Christian Hansen, head of the European region at Danish biotechnology company Novozymes. “This sends a strong signal the bio-economy has become a European priority.”