In a Europe marked by geopolitical tensions, the energy transition and competitiveness challenges, the circular bioeconomy is emerging as one of the most concrete strategies for combining sustainability and industrial growth. It is an economic model that transforms renewable biological resources and production waste into materials, energy, food and innovative products, reducing dependence on fossil raw materials and strengthening the economic security of the Union.
According to the Bioeconomy in Europe 2025 Report by Intesa Sanpaolo and Cluster SPRING, in 2024 the European bioeconomy reached a value of €3,042 billion, representing 8.7% of the EU27 economy and employing over 17 million workers. It is a cross-cutting meta-sector that integrates agriculture, industry, research and innovation, and is becoming a pillar of Europe’s new industrial policies.
In the Mediterranean context, where the bioeconomy represents on average more than 10% of total production, Italy has taken a leading role, contributing 14% to the European bioeconomy with an output of €426.8 billion and over two million employees. Experiences such as biorefineries and bio-based supply chains arising from industrial reconversions demonstrate how the bioeconomy can generate innovation, employment and territorial regeneration. However, the phenomenon goes beyond Italy, involving the whole of Europe, where an interconnected ecosystem is emerging: Northern Europe’s expertise in forestry and paper value chains integrates with Mediterranean experience in agriculture, biotechnology and sustainable materials.
This shared vision took shape in Brussels with the creation of the European Bioeconomy Clusters’ Alliance (EBCA), which brings together fourteen clusters from eleven Member States. The initiative stems from the recognition that the bioeconomy is a pillar of European innovation and competitiveness policies, but that unlocking its full potential requires overcoming national logics and building truly European industrial integration.
In a period of global geopolitical realignment, Europe is called upon to seize the strategic opportunities of the circular bioeconomy: energy security, raw material autonomy, technological innovation and production resilience. The year 2025 marked a crucial milestone, with the presentation of the Clean Industrial Deal, the Action Plan on Affordable Energy, the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act and the new European Bioeconomy Strategy, whose public consultation has just concluded. These are decisive steps for the future of a sector in which Europe is still a leader, but which risks losing momentum due to overregulation and the lack of effective policies supporting demand for innovative bio-based products.
As highlighted by the Alliance clusters, the challenge is now political and industrial: to place the bioeconomy at the heart of the EU’s new industrial agenda, with concrete tools for research, innovation and technological scale-up. Among the priorities identified are the reform of NACE codes (a statistical classification system of economic activities used in the EU to standardise data collection and analysis on business activities) for biorefineries, following the US model, to distinguish and enhance sector-specific characteristics, and the legislative recognition of the contribution of bio-based products to decarbonisation, with dedicated incentives and minimum requirements for biological content.
The Alliance also proposes the introduction of green public procurement based on the US BioPreferred programme, along with common standards and labelling systems to support the diffusion of bio-based products in the European market.
At the same time, the clusters emphasise the urgency of scaling up already mature technologies, reducing investor risk and promoting the growth of innovative start-ups and SMEs. Industrial biotechnology, recognised as a key enabling technology in the EU Biotech Act, must become the engine of the new European bioeconomy.
The creation of the EBCA therefore marks an important symbolic and political step: the bioeconomy is no longer only an environmental issue, but a shared industrial and cultural project. It is a vision that crosses borders to combine growth, well-being and sustainability, aiming to build a stronger, more cohesive and more competitive Europe.
