The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), together with more than twenty European trade associations, has signed a joint letter to the European Parliament. The coalition calls on MEPs to explicitly retain agriculture and the bioeconomy in the next major European research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe 2028-2034.
The impetus is a draft report presented on 13 March 2026 by the rapporteurs of the ITRE Committee, the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, concerning the successor to the current Horizon Europe programme. The European Commission published its proposal for the programme in July 2025, with a budget of 175 billion euros and a new structure of four pillars. In that proposal, agriculture and the bioeconomy are explicitly included in a policy window within the second pillar, together with health and biotechnology.
However, the draft report by the ITRE rapporteurs contains two amendments, amendments 48 and 51, which would remove the explicit references to agriculture and the bioeconomy from the title description of that policy window. The deadline for submitting amendments by other Members of the European Parliament was 9 April 2026. A vote in the ITRE Committee and subsequently in the plenary session of the European Parliament is expected in September or October 2026.
Although this concerns an apparently technical change in the wording of a title, the signatories warn that the consequences could be far-reaching. Without clear policy anchoring, investments and innovation trajectories in the bioeconomic sector risk facing uncertainty regarding their position within the European research landscape.
What is at stake?
Horizon Europe is the world's largest research and innovation programme. The programme is intended to start on 1 January 2028, following an interinstitutional negotiation process between the European Parliament, the Member States, and the Commission. Notably, the ITRE rapporteurs advocate a higher budget in their draft report than the Commission proposes: 220 billion euros as opposed to the proposed 175 billion euros.
In the letter, BIC states that the bioeconomy contributes to innovation on a daily basis, from sustainable materials to circular industrial solutions, while simultaneously supporting rural development and strengthening resilience in value chains. According to the coalition, the loss of explicit recognition in the program undermines the long-term signal to innovators and investors, anchors these sectors less firmly in European strategic priorities, and could cause fragmentation or uncertainty in the research and innovation landscape.
Broad coalition of signatories
The letter has been signed by a broad spectrum of European organizations active in agriculture, forestry, biochemistry, biofuels, and bio-based materials. In addition to BIC, Bioenergy Europe, European Bioplastics, EuropaBio, Copa Cogeca (the European agricultural organization), Cepi (the European paper sector), Starch Europe, and Plants for the Future are among those who signed. In total, this involves 23 organizations that together represent a large part of the European bioeconomic industry.
The coalition asks policymakers to maintain the original policy window structure as proposed by the European Commission. This provides continuity, clarity, and the right preconditions for innovation, according to the letter.
Source: Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC)
Photo: Kranich17, Pixabay.com
