Biotechnology for agro-industries and the bioeconomy: challenges for European expansion
To produce effective public policy for biomanufacturing and industrial development, the industrial potential of biotechnologies must be understood. This vital question, which traverses Europe’s strategic vision, was discussed at a high-level event organised in Brussels by INRAE, the IBISBA research infrastructure and the B-BEST PEPR major research programme.
Published on 04 February 2026
Biotechnologies allow goods and services to be produced from biological organisms (such as cells or enzymes) and systems. They are a strategic field of development with diverse applications in sectors such as agri-food, chemicals, cosmetics and materials, where they are fast becoming a pillar of European strategy. Despite the excellence of European research, outstripping that of the USA in terms of capacity, the rapid expansion of biotech leaves questions still to be resolved. How do we bridge the gap from scientific discovery to industrial applications? How do we make best use of high-quality data and AI? And how can European cooperation be strengthened through appropriate research infrastructures?
These issues were recently the focus of a high-level event in Brussels, hosted by INRAE, the IBISBA European infrastructure and the B-BEST PEPR. As European initiatives to boost biotechnologies move forward apace, the event brought together researchers, industry representatives, civil society and European institutions to help shape an ambitious future for Europe’s bioproduction.
European-level priorities
The strategic nature of biotechnologies is reflected in European policy orientations.
- They are indeed identified as one of the priority areas of the EU Competitiveness Compass, the reference framework used by the European Commission to guide its industrial and technological priorities.
- This recognition is also reflected in the new European bioeconomy strategy and in the preparation of the Biotech Act, the first part of which, focused on health, was released at the end of 2025, while the second part, centred on industrial policy, is expected in 2026
Why biotechnologies are a strategic priority for Europe
By drawing on these biological resources, biotechnologies can help to reduce the reliance of certain European industrial sectors on fossil resources and imported inputs. They also enable the development of production processes that are less dependent on complex supply chains thanks to their use of more diversified and often locally-sourced resources.
Dedicated government strategies and structural investments for industrial biotechnologies are already in place in many major economies, notably in the USA, China and India. For Europe, such technologies offer the means to unlock forms of industrial development that satisfy both environmental goals and the need to strengthen competitiveness and industrial sovereignty.
Biotechnology applications in nature-based manufacturing and the bioeconomy - a few examples
- Conversion of plant biomass (cultivated plants, agricultural residues) into ingredients or materials, for food or industrial use
- Use of enzymes in industrial processes to replace certain chemicals inputs and reduce energy and resource consumption
- Added-value creation from agricultural and agri-food by-products or organic waste to produce biogas or fertilisers and boost recycling streams.
Find out more: From biomass to biobased products
Promising technologies that are still hard to upscale
Although biotechnologies offer major opportunities for Europe’s industrial future, the maturation stage of their development is not yet complete. “Our primary aim must be to turn the know-how and innovations already produced in the laboratory into successful industrial-scale processes that make economic sense”, Michael O’Donohue, INRAE’s Scientific Director for Bioeconomy tells us.
“Many setbacks are encountered, unfortunately, at the point when operations need to be scaled up, that is, the transition from the research and development phase to implementation at industrial scale”, he explains. “A further major scientific challenge lies in harnessing digital tools and artificial intelligence as levers to accelerate the maturation of bioprocesses”.
Digital tools and AI can only be successfully exploited if adapted data is available. “As a research body and data provider, INRAE has an important role to play in this area. We have significant capacity at our disposal, thanks to our laboratories and research infrastructures”, Michael O’Donohue stresses. To manage the process of upscaling, INRAE can also call on several pre-industrial demonstrators, such as Ferments du Futur and Toulouse White Biotechnology, who facilitate the interface between research activities and industrial needs through public-private partnerships.
The maturation of biotechnologies also requires the structuring of upstream research and the organisation of access to existing facilities and expertise. The activities of the B-BEST PEPR and the European IBISBA infrastructure, the co-organisers of this event, are directed towards capacity building in these areas.
B-BEST: informing industrial choices through upstream research
The B-BEST priority research programme supports upstream research for industrial biotechnologies and biobased products as part of the research component of the France 2030 acceleration strategy relating to ‘biobased products, industrial biotechnologies – sustainable fuels’.
- With a budget of 65 million euros, B-BEST funds research at the earliest levels of technological maturity (Technology Readiness Levels 1 to 4), where there are still major scientific hurdles to overcome before the next stage of industrial development.
- Co-led by INRAE and IFP Energies Nouvelles and federating more than thirty partners, the programme brings together teams working on biomass, biological systems, biomass transformation, digital tools and related economic and social issues to provide the fundamental scientific knowledge that is needed to inform and guide the development of bio-industrial sectors in France and at European scale.
IBISBA: organising access to research facilities and expertise in Europe
In Europe, the maturing of biotechnologies is still hampered by the fragmentation of research and innovation capacity. IBISBA is the only European distributed research infrastructure dedicated to industrial biotechnology and biomanufacturing, with the goal of supporting the end-to-end development and commercialisation of bioprocesses, products and services at industrial scale, to drive the circular bioeconomy transition.
- By federating an interdisciplinary group of research infrastructures, IBISBA has taken on the task of overcoming the fragmentation of the European research and innovation landscape. Through the creation of a single point of access, it centralises information relating to R & D platforms and services.
- Promoting shared practices and standardisation (relating to data, in particular), IBISBA consolidates cooperation between public-sector actors and facilities and lays down the foundations of interoperability. Last, by facilitating knowledge sharing and consolidation at multiple scales, the IBISBA community also helps to accelerate the emergence of novel bioprocesses.
At national level, the IBISBA-FR network of nine institutions, coordinated by INRAE, is part of the national roadmap produced by MESRE, the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research. The activities of IBISBA-FR are directed towards industrial and environmental biotechnologies across a variety of commercial sectors, from bioenergy to waste recycling.
IBISBA takes its next step in Europe
The IBISBA research infrastructure is recognised for its scientific importance to the biotechnology sector. The European Commission recently approved its preparatory structuring to become a European Research Infrastructure (ERIC). Achieving this status will facilitate both functionality and coordination at European scale. France has been designated as the host country for IBISBA-ERIC.
Meanwhile, IBISBA has become a point of reference in European communications on biotechnologies, demonstrating the strategic interest accorded by the EU to the role of research infrastructures in fostering the sector’s development.
The above challenges all concern the capacity to establish the seamless continuum between research, development and innovation that is a necessary condition for the successful conversion of European scientific excellence into biomanufacturing capabilities and sustainable industrial sectors.
Biotechnologies at the heart of INRAE’s 2030 strategy
INRAE has long been active in developing its biotech facilities and expertise to support the agri-food sectors. “These technologies have even greater pride of place in the institute’s new 2030 strategic vision, which recognises the role they can play in fostering the transition towards a circular bioeconomy”, stresses Michael O’Donohue.
“The IBISBA European infrastructure also features prominently in INRAE’s 2030 strategy as one of the best-placed instruments to achieve these ambitions”. The strategy frames the bioeconomy as a transition trajectory that must maintain compatibility with food-related uses. It calls for a managed hierarchy of non-food demand for biomass, close monitoring of changes in land use and proper attention to questions of social equity.
Within the INRAE 2030 strategy, the bioeconomy is conceived as a transition pathway that must remain compatible with food uses. It entails a prioritisation of non-food uses of biomass, heightened vigilance regarding land-use change, and due consideration of social equity issues.
In tandem with this strategy, INRAE has played a part in the consultations launched by the European Commission on the forthcoming Biotech Act and Europe’s strategy for the bioeconomy, formulating a series of recommendations to guide international decision making.
INRAE’s scientific contribution to the European debate on biotechnologies and the bioeconomy
The institute’s main message in its response to the consultation on the forthcoming Biotech Act was that a European strategy on biotechnologies can be effective only if it is accompanied by strong and sustained investment in research.
- While acceleration mechanisms, simplification of the regulations and support for start-ups and SMEs are all essential measures, their effectiveness nevertheless closely depends on their articulation with the entirety of the innovation value chain.
- An approach that focuses too closely on short-term acceleration and targeted support for SMEs, with no concomitant strengthening of investment in fundamental and applied research, will weaken Europe’s innovation capacity.
- In this, the construction of a robust continuum between research, development and innovation emerges as a decisive factor, as does the need for support from research infrastructures, high quality data and adapted skills.
INRAE’s response to the consultation on the European strategy for the bioeconomy stressed that the bioeconomy cannot be viewed simply as an industrial sector.
- It must be considered rather as a complex socio-economic system. Its success will depend on its capacity to build strong structural links between production and the availability of biomass, the effectiveness of processes, local dynamics and the uses of resources, integrating environmental, economic and social issues into the system.
- Research and innovation have a structuring role in securing the change of scale to biomanufacturing and in strengthening European competitiveness.