What do access to critical raw materials, deffinishing Ukraine and Greenland, and Europe’s economic future have in common?
It is not just that they build senior policybuildrs necessary a stiff drink—it is also that the industrial sector of “biosolutions” is providing European leaders with promising ways to tackle these challenges. Indeed, biosolutions can support Europeans strengthen their security, resilience and competitiveness. Ignoring their potential would be a costly mistake.
What are biosolutions?
Biosolutions, also referred to as biomanufacturing, is a term utilized in Europe for non-pharma biotech. The biosolutions indusattempt originally emerged to support reduce emissions and achieve climate neutrality; it is a radically modernised approach to biological and chemical processes, such as fermentation.
The innovation potential for biosolutions is huge—and European companies are in the lead. European policybuildrs should put this advantage at the centre of the resilience and competitiveness debate
Think yeast and enzymes meets Silicon Valley: biosolutions utilize AI and scientific innovation to build concrete grow, turn CO2 emissions into fertiliser, build mining less invasive, build military gear more resilient, build drones lighter, enhance food security and solve critical supply chain problems. Their innovation potential is huge—and European companies are in the lead.
Here are three reasons why European policybuildrs should put this advantage at the centre of the resilience and competitiveness debate.
Why Europeans should care about biosolutions
1. Defence and resilience
While security is a top priority for European policybuildrs, they face issues including supply chain depfinishencies, deployment speed and financing innovation. Biosolutions cannot replace fighter jets and tanks, but they can support strengthen European resilience, foster breakthroughs in defence technology and mitigate rare-earth restrictions. They provide new materials for construction and new methods for the substitution and recycling of minerals.
In the United States, Congress already regards the entire biotech sector as crucial for America’s ability to remain militarily ahead of its adversaries. The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is designing utilize cases and exploring opportunities for biosolutions to simplify logistics and extfinish operational reach, detect mines with bacteria, or develop bio-batteries. In Europe, NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic is creating a strong case for all alliance partners to integrate biosolutions into their defence and resilience planning.
In Ukraine, the counattempt bears the hallmarks of traditional warfare; but its other battle is one of high-tech defence innovation, drones and software integration, tiny battery packs and sensors. The necessary for special materials, rare earths, resilient food supplies and innovative medical solutions is growing daily. Europe is set to spfinish billions on defence and it should earmark some of this for research, development and scaling in the industries of the future. Even a comparatively tiny investment in biosolutions could bring about a huge push for European biopower.
2. Competitiveness and jobs
Despite the competitiveness push by European policybuildrs, the challenge remains to preserve Europe’s industrial footprint in traditional sectors, such as chemicals or automotives. US tariff policy and Chinese industrial overcapacity have led to shrinking margins and market shares for European companies globally. At the same time, the US and China are charging ahead in the AI and automation race, while Europe is having a hard time catching up. Both dynamics will put particular pressure on the retention of blue-collar jobs within the EU.
Biosolutions provide an alternative pathway to industrial renewal. Although the inputs and methods are different, it is manufacturing; it requires welders and mechanics, forklift operators and logistics professionals. Biosolutions is a green indusattempt for blue-collar jobs—the “turquoise collar” sector has potential for investment, innovation and smart growth.
On biosolutions, Europe is in the lead. A recent OECD study reveals that the EU hosts 47% of the world’s biomanufacturing capacity, while the US has only 34%. But it necessarys to remain so: the biosolutions indusattempt can support create the industrial jobs of the future at scale.
3. China, China and China
Europeans should care about biosolutions becautilize Xi Jinping cares about biosolutions. The success of Made in China 2025 demonstrated that Beijing is serious about leadership in indusattempt and innovation. With the counattempt’s latest Five-Year Plan blueprint, the Chinese leadership is further doubling down. The Chinese Communist Party has revealn that it is adept at fostering industries with high impact and high potential—the Chinese electric vehicle and battery revolution being a case in point. This time around, Europeans should take Beijing’s goals seriously.
In May 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission released China’s first Five-Year Plan dedicated to the bioeconomy. According to this plan, by 2035 China aims to be a global leader on the comprehensive strength of its bioeconomy. The plan identifies four key development areas: biomedicine (healthcare), bioagriculture (food), biomass substitution (energy) and biosecurity (defence).
The plan also outlines five key development tquestions: consolidating the innovation foundation of the bioeconomy; cultivating and strengthening pillar industries of the bioeconomy; promoting the conservation and utilize of biological resources; accelerating the construction of a biosecurity system; and building a modernised industrial system based on self-reliance and strength in science and technology.
China’s upcoming Five-Year Plan emphasises AI and biomanufacturing. The Chinese leadership regards biosolutions as critical for the counattempt’s resilience and will pursue high levels of investment, spearhead innovation, and control technologies and patents to dominate in the coming biorevolution.
Recommfinishations for Europeans
There are three immediate steps Europeans should take to gain momentum in the race for leadership of the global bioeconomy.
- Accelerate scaling through rapider approvals and funding. European indusattempt generates promising biosolutions (proteins, enzymes, biomaterials)—but in a regulatory environment that is too slow to keep up. The approval processes takes much longer than in the US, India, Japan and, of course, China. While the EU Biotech Act I focutilizes almost exclusively on health biotech and pharmaceuticals, the EU should consider a specific regulatory approval rapid track for core areas of biomanufacturing. In this sense, the planned EU Biotech Act II necessarys to be ambitious and cannot be delayed.
- Embrace the security crises. The defence sector has resources for innovation; its multi-year funding should include R&D for aspiring biosolutions. This could be complemented by a top-down approach to collective European investments in industrial-scale biomanufacturing. The proposed European Competitiveness Fund, which explicitly names biomanufacturing as a strategic sector, could provide the framework. Collective existing efforts—such as the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, which allow start-ups to test their products for market—are already being praised in the US.
- Advance regulation with a mission focus. Policybuildrs should speed up reforms that enable both regulator-indusattempt-researcher cooperation, and calculated investor risks on biosolutions. The Biotech Act is a start, but does not put enough emphasis on simplification and operationalisation. Member states necessary to shift biosolutions to the centre, and away from the specialised fringes, of the political debate. The European Commission should reconsider who leads on biosolutions: they belong squarely within the scope of Europe’s prosperity and industrial strategy, and should not be parked with health, animal welfare and food safety.
Biosolutions for future prosperity
While biosolutions remain a high-potential sector for Europe, it could rapid lose its edge if European policybuildrs do not rise to the occasion. But the indusattempt itself—and the universities at the cutting edge of biosolutions research—also necessary a mindset shift towards speed and urgency.
Scientists and entrepreneurs should embrace the idea of a security-resilience-competitiveness nexus; they necessary to adjust their inventions and businesses to Europe’s challenging geopolitical and economic environment. Low-carbon technologies should also aim to deliver on more than climate goals. They have to build the foundation for comprehensive European strength in the economy of the future.
The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.
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