European Bioeconomy Policy Forum

The Forum

This forum allows for structured dialogue between the Commission and Member States (MS). It provides an opportunity to

1. engage and build the knowledge base on key bioeconomy-relevant policy developments and best practices at MS and EU level, and
2. seek input from MS on pertinent issues in order to guide the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and inform wider policy developments.

Specific objectives are:

• Support networking and interaction at MS level
• Enhance cooperation and best practice exchange
• Shape a concrete agenda of joint actions
• Increase the visibility and potential of the bioeconomy at EU and MS level
• Enable policy feedback and analysis in MS and the EU, particularly regarding the EU Bioeconomy Strategy.

About the European Bioeconomy Policy Forum

The European Bioeconomy Policy Forum (EBPF) was launched in November 2020 with an opening event with high-level participation. 

The Forum is governed according to the Terms of Reference agreed to by all participating Member States. 

The Forum operates on two levels – a high level and an expert level. The former addresses strategic/political topics while the latter focuses on the operational aspects of bioeconomy policy development and implementation. Additionally, ad-hoc Working Groups work on a specific bioeconomy issue or sector.

Outputs include Common position papers, strategic recommendations & priorities, best practice case studies, consultation feedback/data & information, meeting/workshop reports/minutes. Please, find more examples below.

Meetings and discussions

2024 - 2025

• The second joint (high and expert level) meeting of the EBPF took place in 2025 online. This time under the new priorities of the European Commission mandate 2024-2029. The meeting focused on the preparation of the new strategy, sharing information, views and relevant stakeholder events, at EU level such as the EU Green Week 2025 or the Circular Economy Stakeholder Dialogue, and at international level, such as GFFA or COLI.
   
• To keep the Bioeconomy Country Dashboard of the European Commission Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy up to date, a light survey for reviewing existing content in the dashboard was conducted in 2024. This survey involved members of EBPF and aimed to ensure that the dashboard's information was up to date. Additionally, it provided input for the report "Trends in the EU Bioeconomy – Update 2024" (Korosuo et al., 2024).
   
• The first in-person and joint (high and expert level) meeting took place in Brussels in March 2024, back-to-back to the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival.

2022 - 2023

By the end of 2023, four expert-level and three high-level meetings of the EBPF took place. These involved:

• Discussions on the 2022 EU Bioeconomy Progress Report and the 2023 AGRIFISH Council Conclusions on bioeconomy and on preparation and outcomes of the EU Bioeconomy Conference in 2022.
   
• Presentations of advances in national and regional strategies (e.g. Finland, Austria, Germany) and case studies from the World Bank or initiatives on education and reporting of the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.
   
• Sharing research finding from the Joint Research Centre and Horizon Europe funded projects, and bioeconomy-related new initiatives from the European Commission services, such as the Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication.
   
• A creation of a Working Group on the design of the Regional Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems. A concept note was launched in a high-level event in Plovdiv (Bulgaria). Factsheet.

2020 - 2021

• During 2021, three expert-level and two high-level meetings of the EBPF took place. Moreover, there were several meetings under the Working Group ‘Knowledge for Bioeconomy’, which operated under the EBPF and was steered by the Joint Research Centre as contribution to the Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy.
    
• Three tasks were launched under the Working Group ‘Knowledge for Bioeconomy’, outlined in the Work Plan of the EBPF:
  • 1. Improving the estimation of socio-economic indicators for the EU bioeconomy;
  • 2. Monitoring the bioeconomy through a holistic lens; and
  • 3. Mapping of policy-enabling measures. 42 experts (representatives of national authorities with political responsibility for bioeconomy strategy development and experts from research and academia) from 14 Member States participated in these tasks. See the Bioeconomy country dashboard for outputs of these workshops.