From Policy to Practice

Today EuropaBio celebrates the launch of a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Bio-based Industries- enabled by Industrial Biotechnology-, and the European Commission for €3.7 billion. The Bio-based Industries PPP (also known as a Joint Undertaking or ‘JU’) was initiated today by European Commission President José-Manuel Barroso, Vice-President Neelie Kroes, Research and Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas as part of the EU’s €20 billion “Innovation Investment Package”.

Today also sees the announcement of the first set of calls for the Biobased JU, with an estimated budget of €50 million- excluding industry contributions- to be divided amongst research and innovation actions, including pilot demonstrations and flagships, containing a total of 16 topics.

The Bio-based Industries (BBI) PPP is a seven year initiative with the aim of creating a society and economy which increasingly makes everyday products, such as food, feed, textiles, chemicals and fuels, biomass and wastes, rather than from fossil-based sources. The partnership will create jobs in a broad range of sectors in Europe, triggering rural growth across regions whilst placing sustainability and the smart and efficient use of resources at its heart. In doing so, it will also help to overcome the EU’s so-called ‘innovation valley of death’ by bridging the gap between excellence in science and technology and commercial success in an increasingly competitive worldwide marketplace.

Stephan Tanda, Chair of EuropaBio’s Industrial Biotechnology Council, whose company DSM also chairs the industry’s consortia for the PPP, commented: “Today’s launch represents a milestone in the EU’s approach towards tackling some of our generation’s greatest challenges such as climate change, food and energy security and the need to ensure sustainable and economic recovery in Europe. The innovation that will be accelerated by this Partnership will contribute to the development of a more competitive European bioeconomy. It will also help demonstrate that Europe can make good on its commitment to foster research, innovation and technological expertise for the benefit of its people, the planet and long term prosperity in Europe.”

Nathalie Moll, EuropaBio Secretary General stated: “EuropaBio has played a leading role in both the initiation and in the development of the Bio-based Industries PPP and therefore we could not be happier to see it finally launched. As an association, our aim is not only to maintain a cutting edge Industrial Biotech sector in Europe but to grow it by attracting more investment and creating more green jobs, products and services here. The BBI PPP represents a cornerstone in this process.”

Source

EuropaBio, press release, 2014-07-09.

Supplier

DSM
EuropaBio
European Commission

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