WRITTEN QUESTION E-1761/03 by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission. Industrial biotechnology.
Date: 2003-05-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: bio-industry, biotechnology, environmental policy, raw material, renewable resources, research and development

C 280 E/180

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.11.2003

(2003/C 280 E/197)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1761/03

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 May 2003)

Subject: Industrial biotechnology

In various resolutions in recent years, the European Parliament has urged the Commission to promote the
use of agricultural products as raw materials for industrial products. The industrial biotechnology sector is
developing in precisely that direction. The edition of ‘The Economist’ dated 29 March 2003 includes an
overview of those technologies. It is striking to note that, while the United States is taking a very positive
stance on the development of these technologies, the same cannot, unfortunately, be said of the EU.

Does the Commission take the view that the use of agricultural raw materials for industrial purposes

1.
must indeed be promoted in the interests of the environment?

Is the Commission prepared, as part of the Lisbon Strategy, to promote the development of these

2.
technologies under the Sixth Programme of Research?

3.
Is the Commission prepared to devise legislation so that, in the interests of the environment, the use
is made compulsory of vegetable-based lubricating oils in environmentally sensitive areas and of
organically produced plastics and fibres in general?

4. What other measures
the Commission envisaging with a view to stimulating industrial
biotechnology? Is it intending to discuss the issue with all those involved with a view to tackling these
technological arrears in a dynamic fashion?

is

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2003)

1.
The Commission would agree that such uses can indeed be in the interests of the environment.
It should be underlined that since the beginning of the 90’s bio- and raw- materials have already been
considered within the framework of the European efforts in industrial research. Furthermore, since the
beginning of the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) in Summer 2000 the Commission had
recognised the potentially valuable contribution that bio-based industrial products can make to the
environment. Accordingly one of
the stakeholder working groups established under the ECCP was
exclusively dealing with renewable raw materials (RRM) for industrial products (except energy). As part of
the Commission’s general report from June 2001 on the results of the ECCP (http://europa.eu.int/comm/
environment/climat/eccpreport.htm) the RRM working group published specific results on the amount of
green house gases that could be saved assuming a realistic take-up of these technologies in assorted
industries. Although so called direct annual green house gas emission savings could amount to a modest
8 million tonnes (CO2 equivalent.) by 2010, indirect savings that could be made due to the improvement
of product performances could be substantially higher. The RRM working group identified further
environmental but also economic and social benefits that could be expected from an enlargement of that
sector and listed a number of policy measures that would be needed in order to achieve this.

After the conclusion of the first phase of the ECCP in June 2001, the Commission Services continued the
work of this stakeholder working group, with the aim to identify the obstacles for the further promotion
of these technologies and of the industry using it and to find solutions of how to overcome them.
Together with the co-operation of the European Renewable Resources and Material Association (ERRMA)
an internal report was finalised on the ‘Current Situation and Future Prospects of Union Industry Using
Renewable Materials’. Among others, that report contained a detailed list of further actions that would
need to be undertaken in the future and the RRM working group is currently in the process of addressing
them. (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/environment/reports_studies/reports_studies.htm)

On 6 June 2002 the Council of Industry Ministers in its conclusions on the contribution of enterprise
policy to sustainable development, called on Member States and the Commission, ‘each within its own field
of responsibility, to further work on the contribution of enterprise policy to sustainable development,
notably to further encourage the use of renewable raw materials in manufacturing industry, building on
the results of current work of the Commission.’

21.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

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As part of the Lisbon Strategy, the Commission is keen to promote the development of these
2.
technologies under the Union’s Strategy and Action Plan for the Life Sciences and Biotechnology. This
includes making financial support available under the Sixth Framework Programme (6th FP) as well as
numerous other actions to facilitate development of
these technologies in Europe. The successive
Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (RTD) have supported research in
this area. During the period 1993-2002, bio-based product research (excluding bio-energy and forest
industry) has received a total Union investment of nearly EUR 190 million on 173 projects involving over
1000 partners of which 40 % were from industry, mostly SMEs. Details can be found on the Bio-Mat web
site: http://www.nf-2000.org/home.html and http://www.biomatnet.org. Moreover,
support continues
under the 6th FP and tenders for project funding can be placed under Priority 3: ‘Nano-technology and
nano-sciences, knowledge-based multifunctional materials, new production processes and devices’. The use
of biological raw materials and biological processes in industry, as opposed to minerals and chemical
processes, can provide benefits, such as reductions in resource use,
less toxic waste or less energy
consumption, and can be profitable for companies. This concept, now known as ‘White Biotechnology’, is
being promoted as a policy priority also by organisations such as the OECD (with Community support).

3.
At this stage of the activities the focus of the RRM working group is on actual measures that are
directly effective to further promoting the industry. Against this background use is first and foremost made
of what exists already. Examples are the development of an Union Eco-label for bio-lubricants or the
addressing of specific RRM requirements in the amending of other policies and measures such as the
packaging and waste legislation. Furthermore, the working group explores ways and means on how to set
up an Union wide information platform on and for RRM industry and on how best to guarantee that for
instance RRM based polymers would comply with certain standards on bio-degradability. As far as energy
use of renewable raw materials is concerned it is worth mentioning that the recently approved Directive
on the promotion of the use of biofuels for transport (2003/30/EC) calls for a 5,75 % increase of the share
of biofuels in transport fuel by 2010. In the very long run, as fossil resources become increasingly scarce,
the use of renewable raw materials can be expected to become more commercially viable.

the Life Sciences and Biotechnology. This

The Commission is seeking to stimulate the development of industrial technologies through the
4.
the
Union’s Strategy and Action Plan for
interdependence between industrial biotechnology and other sets of applications (medical, agricultural,
environmental as well as of platform technologies such as bio-informatics). Although a few of the actions
in the 30-point action plan are specific to problems faced by other sets of applications, most should be
effective in stimulating the development and use of industrial biotechnology and tackling the problems
that it faces. The Union’s Strategy and Action Plan is highly dynamic, promoting actions not only by the
Commission but also by a wide variety of authorities and other organisations at different levels of decision-
making.

recognises

(2003/C 280 E/198)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1780/03

by Claude Moraes (PSE) to the Commission

(28 May 2003)

Subject: Conclusions from the Round Table on Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia

What conclusions has the Commission drawn from the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and
Xenophobia and European Commission Round Table on Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia held in Brussels
on 21 March 2003?