EU needs an ambitious Bio Act, says MEP Weiss

Europe needs an ambitious Bio Act according to MEP Pernille Weiss (EPP). Weiss and other expert speakers at the European High-Level Summit on Biosolutions said that failing to develop an effective biosolutions regulatory framework will lead to a stifling of innovation and growth potential for companies which start in the EU, but scale-up overseas.

Biosolutions are techniques that use living organisms to create, alter, or break down products often in ways with less of an ecological impact than if one were to use chemicals to achieve the same results. One practical example of a biosolution is enzymes used in laundry detergents to break down stains. Switching to enzymes means fewer chemicals are needed and clothes can be washed at lower temperatures, thus also saving energy.

The first major event organised by the relatively new European Biosolutions Coalition drew dozens of industry leaders who appeared united not just in their vision for a biosolutions revolution but also about what the big-ticket item on their wish list is: new legislation.

“The key is to have a Bio Act. So, if the communication from the Commission is that, yes, we will see in the next Commission a Bio Act, then we can in the campaigning in the next five months address that act, so the next Commission can get to work on the act before next Christmas,” said Weiss.

The suggestion immediately piqued the interest of Sofie Carsten Nielsen who after her two-year stint as leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party now heads the European Biosolutions Coalition.

Europe’s empty nest problem

“Biosolution companies are born in Europe but tend to grow up elsewhere,” Carsten Nielsen said, adding that they will follow up on Weiss’ suggestion. Unfortunately for the coalition, they’ll need to find allied MEPs elsewhere as Weiss (who’s also Danish) confirmed she won’t be re-contesting the June elections.

A change in the legislation can’t happen fast enough as Ester Baiget, the CEO of Novonesis, sees a European biosolutions ecosystem that’s facing stiff competition from Asia and the United States, and all the while hampered by inadequate homegrown regulations.

“We need to change the regulation because it was made with a lot of love and good intentions but it focuses on the solutions of the past. It’s a regulation that categorises biosolutions as chemicals,” Baiget told Euractiv.

The technology lends solutions to several global issues – food scarcity, carbon emissions and energy cost solutions already exist, but according to Baiget, outdated regulations mean they can’t be implemented fast enough.

“It takes Europe six to eight years to register a microbe to replace a fertilizer. In the US, you can do this in two. Europe is losing out on solutions to consumer problems,” she explained.

Asked about if there were any sources of resistance getting in their way, Baiget told Euractiv it was less about resistance and more that companies such as hers needed to “explain what good can look like”.

A chicken and egg conundrum

This need for a change in the narrative was also picked up by Stina Soewarta who is the Head of Cabinet of Commission EVP Margrethe Vestager. While sharing the stage with Baiget at the Brussels event, Soewarta explained that currently, discussions about biosolutions still make people think of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). She said the narrative about what biosolutions are and what they can do has to be changed, including explaining all the different use cases.

Using the example of lab-grown meat, Soewarta said people still have some sort of fear about it adding that products being described as ‘synthetic meat’ doesn’t help.

“In the end, legislators can only legislate something that’s morally acceptable to the population,” Soewarta said. However, Baiget was quick to describe this as a chicken and egg situation since it’s hard to get consumers to support a product they can’t try.

Aside from proposing the creation of an EU Bio Act, MEP Weiss also recommended the establishment of a ‘regulatory sandbox’ where biosolutions companies can experiment with their new products under a regulator’s supervision.

“It’s not enough to just talk about the challenges but we have to do something about it,” Weiss said. She added that creating such a sandbox would make it possible for stakeholders to learn where the regulatory challenges are to help the redesign of what she described as “the regulatory monster”.

Lars Sandahl Sørensen, CEO of Danish Industry, Denmark’s largest employers’ association, indicated his agreement with Weiss’ suggestions including the one for the regulatory sandbox.

During his time on the stage, Sandahl Sørensen talked about the “absolute paradox” of the red-carpet treatment biosolutions companies receive in the US, India, and China with invitations to produce their technology there.

According to Sandahl Sørensen, the realisation that Europe is falling behind is growing.

“It’s our responsibility to show where the problems are today and make suggestions on how those problems can be solved,” he told Euractiv. The biggest loser if problems are allowed to fester? He said he believes it will be Europe and not the actual companies.

“The biggest problem here is not for companies, because companies can move, and they are moving. The biggest problem here is for Europe. Europe will lose out on being at the forefront of innovation, employees, technology, income, and reducing emissions,” said Sørensen.

[By Christoph Schwaiger I Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]

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