EU Project ShapingBio Offers Recommendations for a Competitive EU Bioeconomy

Professor Maeve Henchion and Noha Mahmoud

The EU-funded ShapingBio project has released a comprehensive policy brief outlining key recommendations to support the European Commission in creating an optimal framework for a sustainable and competitive European bioeconomy. The recommendations feed into the upcoming New EU Bioeconomy Strategy, expected to play a crucial role in advancing Europe’s transition towards a circular, climate-neutral economy. They will also support bioeconomy development in Ireland through Teagasc –  the Irish agriculture and food development authority, which was involved as a partner in the project.

The policy brief emphasises the following urgent needs and provides practical recommendations on how to address them:

• Stronger strategic coherence across Member States and regions to unlock the EU’s full bioeconomy potential, by improving horizontal and vertical coordination and intensifying stakeholder dialogues with industry, researchers, policy makers and society
• Improved access to financing across stages of research and innovation, helping companies scale from “lab to fab,” with funding conditions better aligned to innovators’ needs, funding instruments for activities on that are closer to market, and the expansion of public-private partnerships
• Harmonised market conditions and demand-side policies to accelerate the deployment of all segments of bio-based products.

A thriving bioeconomy is central to tackling climate change, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity, and other major societal challenges. With its cross-sectoral scope, the bioeconomy provides sustainable alternatives to fossil-based systems and fosters innovation in areas such as food, feed, materials, and energy.

The recommendations are based on extensive engagement with nearly 2,000 key bioeconomy stakeholders across Europe– including policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, and civil society representatives – through surveys, interviews, and 45 Shaping events held between 2022 and 2025. Teagasc facilitated engagement with Irish stakeholders.

“The bioeconomy plays a vital role in meeting Ireland’s climate targets, and in supporting biodiversity. It also provides opportunities to create sustainable jobs across regions. Therefore, within ShapingBio, we took a focused look at the regional perspective, working with the Southern Assembly and MTU. This will help to help coordinate policy at EU, national and regional level”, according to Prof. Maeve Henchion, Teagasc.

Highlighting the value of working at EU level, Noha Mahmoud, Teagasc reports: “the strength of Europe’s bioeconomy lies in collaboration and mutual learning. By sharing best practices across borders, we can build a resilient, future-ready, and competitive system that turns vision into impact.” 

Sven Wydra, coordinator of the ShapingBio project, underlines the importance of collective action:

“Europe has strong assets in the bioeconomy – from diverse biomass resources to leading research and innovation. But fragmented strategies and uneven innovation capacities hold us back. To stay globally competitive and deliver on sustainability goals, we need coherent policies that promote stronger collaboration across all Member States, better financing, and the securing of Europe’s leadership in sustainable biomanufacturing. Our recommendations aim to ensure that Europe not only develops bio-based solutions, but also creates the right conditions for them to thrive.”  

The policy brief is only one of Shaping Bio’s publications, highlighting concrete steps for the European Commission, Member States, and other stakeholders to translate strategic goals into actionable measures. Comprehensive in-depth analyses, accompanied by more detailed recommendations, have been developed to take stock of the current state of the bioeconomy in all EU Member States, on policy and governance, applied R&D and technology transfer, cross-sectoral collaboration and financing. The full reports and recommendations are available at https://www.shapingbio.eu/resources/.

The ShapingBio project’s insights have been well received by the European Commission policy officers who are preparing the New EU Bioeconomy Strategy. With bio-based innovation at the heart of Europe’s Clean Industrial Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan, implementing these recommendations could strengthen Europe’s resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability in the decades ahead.