While the European Union is updating some of its sustainability and supply chain rules to simplify reporting requirements, Â its new Bioeconomy Strategy published on 27 Nov 2025 shows both commitment and ambition.
The new Strategy revises the 2012 version and its 2018 update. The four main goals identified in the Strategy are:
- Ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the EU bioeconomy and investment security. Identifying measures to scale up and commercialise existing and emerging biotech solutions and bio-based products.
- Increasing resource-efficient and circular use of biological resources. Transforming the use and valuation of biomass resources, prioritizing extended high-value applications while encouraging industries and consumers to embrace circular practices.
- Securing the competitive and sustainable supply of biomass, both domestically and from outside EU. Â Strengthening the role of primary producers, generating wealth in rural areas by creating jobs and diversifying incomes for foresters and farmers and rewarding them for the preservation of ecosystems.
- Positioning the EU in the rapidly expanding international market for bio-based materials, biomanufacturing, biochemicals, and agri-food and biotech sectors. This will be done, in particular, by steering existing foreign policy mechanisms.
For an accompanying blog, Q&A, factsheet and video summarising key points in the Strategy see here.
Dr Yue Zhang, co-Lead of EBNet’s Anaerobic Fermentation WG, said: “It is very encouraging to see that, of the four goals highlighted in the Strategy, one of them specifically urges industries and consumers to adopt circular approaches to the use of biomass resources. The European Commission also acknowledges that the global market for bio-based materials and products is expanding rapidly, and this further confirms the importance of our WG’s mission to consolidate and build on national and international expertise in this area”.