Brussels, Belgium
April 11, 2007
The European Commission wants to
put a special focus on innovation, research, market development
and the debate with society on ethical issues in the field of
biotechnology. In a mid-term review of the Strategy on Life
Sciences and Biotechnology 2002 – 2010, presented today by
President Barroso and Commissioners Verheugen and Potocnik, a
refocus of actions has been proposed to promote a competitive
and sustainable European knowledge based Bio-Economy.
Competitiveness can be ensured by the promotion of research and
market development, innovation programmes, societal debates,
sustainable development of agriculture and better implementation
of legislation. Life sciences and biotechnology offer the
prospects of new and renewable bio resources, lower energy and
water consumption, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and
reduced dependence on petroleum. They also play a growing role
in the discovery and development of new medicines, advanced
therapies, diagnostics and vaccines. Biotechnology as a
scientific technique has existed for more than 5000 years. It
was first used in foodstuffs, such as bread, cheese, wine and
beer. Modern applications of biotechnology include the
production of enzymes, used in very practical day to day
products like washing powder, or the creation of bio-plastics,
which degrade considerably quicker than conventional plastics,
thereby reducing waste. Biotechnology is also used to develop
new life-saving medicines and medical devices. New applications
are being developed all the time and Europe should be at the
forefront of these developments.
Commission Vice-President Günter
Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said:
“Biotechnology is an important means to promote growth, jobs and
competitiveness in the EU. The use of biotechnology is however
not without controversy and the enhanced use of biotechnology
needs to be accompanied by a broad societal debate about the
potential risks and benefits of biotechnology including its
ethical dimension.”
Commissioner Janez Potočnik, responsible for research and
development, said: "Life sciences and biotechnologies are
playing a vital role for the competitiveness of our industry but
I see it also playing an important role in facing challenges
such as the perils of oil dependence, global warming, food
security and population health. The FP7 has been designed to
address these challenges and to support the development of a
European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy, which among others will
play a crucial role for achieving the EU goal of reaching the
minimum level of 10% bio fuels for vehicle fuel by 2020.”
The Commission’s Joint Research Centre has just published the
study “Bio4EU”, which provides evidence of the wide impact of
biotechnologies on Europe’s industries.
The situation of the biotechnology industry in the EU, an
important economical sector employing about 96.500 people,
merits more public support. Despite many successful European
biotech start-ups, the companies tend to grow slowly and depend
on external finance for their research and development.
Sufficient amounts of risk capital are often difficult to raise
and the European patent system makes it expensive to file and
defend patents, especially for SME's. In addition, the
investment in life sciences and biotechnology research is
accelerating worldwide and new competitors are emerging in
countries such as China, Brazil, and India.
For the refocusing of the Action Plan, the Commission proposes
to put a specific emphasis on five interdependent
biotech-specific priority actions:
- Promote research and
market development for bio-based products and improve
the uptake of new technologies including generation of
knowledge under the 7th Research Framework Programme;
establishment of public-private partnership to mobilise
research funding; explore lead market initiatives for
eco-efficient bio-based products.
- Foster competitiveness by
facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation from the
science base to industry, including development of best
practices in licensing of genetic resources; improving links
between research organisations and industry; facilitating
the patenting system for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SME's); and considering incentives for Young Innovative
Companies.
- Encourage informed
societal debates on the benefits and risk of life
sciences and biotechnology.
- Ensure a sustainable
contribution of modern biotechnology to agriculture
and use the potential of plant science for energy and
environment applications, in particular to replace of
chemical processes and fossil fuels.
- Improve the
implementation of the legislation and its impact on
competitiveness. Unnecessary administrative burdens on
research and industry should be identified and removed.
Regulation should encourage, not hinder, innovation. Policy
coordination should be improved, especially on cross-cutting
issues and on newly emerging issues.
More information:
- See
MEMO/07/130
- Website DG ENTR
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/phabiocom/index_en.htm
- Websites DG JRC:
http://bio4eu.jrc.es/
-
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
- Website SG:
www.ec.europa.eu/biotechnology |
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