Sustainable Growth: bio-economy is the way out of the crisis

"There are many social challenges facing Europe in terms of population increase and, consequently, consumption of food and energy. Increasingly scarce resources and increasing pressure on the environment and the ecosystem make us think which approach we have to take in terms of production and consumption”, said Paolo Bartolozzi MEP, Rapporteur of the Report ‘Innovating for Sustainable Growth: a bio-economy for Europe’, on the sidelines of the vote by the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament.

This strategy involves research and development, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, environment as well as innovative forms of cooperation between public authorities and the private sector.

Bio-economy in this sense is in itself a huge potential. The bio-economy model developed within a comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy, can, in fact, not only solve contingent problems but, in the longer term, it may render patterns of production, consumption, development and lifestyles more sustainable and effective, reactivating the process of European growth", explained Paolo Bartolozzi MEP.

The Bio-economy Strategy and its Action Plan will contribute to the objectives of the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives of an ‘Innovation Union’ and a ‘Resource-efficient Europe’.

The action plan for implementing the strategy is structured into three complementary parts: promotion of research, innovation and skills, greater and deeper synergy between various policies, strengthening of the markets and of competitiveness.