Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Mid-term review of the Strategy on Life Sciences and Biotechnology
Date: 2008-02-06
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU research policy, biotechnology, competitiveness, cross-border cooperation, life sciences, public awareness campaign, regional cooperation, technical cooperation

25.4.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 105/7

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Mid-term review of the Strategy on Life Sciences and
Biotechnology’

(2008/C 105/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— acknowledges the key importance of life sciences and biotechnology for the EU's international compe-
titiveness and sustainable development. It declares its willingness to contribute at regional level to
successful continuation of the EU's strategy, however, in doing do, opportunities and risks must be
weighed up and each individual measure of the strategy must be evaluated in terms of its risks and its
benefits for citizens;

— stresses the key role of cities and regions in supporting consolidation of capacity and boosting compe-
titiveness of these technologies on the international stage, by cooperating between regions and across
borders, creating and pooling regional biotechnology cluster, bringing together research, industry and
financial backers;

— encourages cities and regions to support knowledge transfer and innovation from the science base to
industry. To the best of their ability, cities and regions should improve the supply of venture capital,
also for cross-border cooperation, and support
inventions in
patenting and making use of patents. Financial institutions at regional, national and in particular at
EU level should set up support programmes to enable risk-sharing for SMEs in the biotechnology
sector;

those applying biotechnological

— encourages informed societal debates on the benefits and risks of life sciences and biotechnology:
Many cities and regions are already doing their best to educate the public on the fundamental scien-
tific issues, methods, applications, legal requirements and ethical issues in the field of biotechnology.
These initiatives must be pursued vigorously, and research, industry and public administration must
also play a role here.

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.4.2008

Rapporteur: Karl DÖHLER (DE/EPP), Member of the Landtag of Bavaria

Reference document:

Communication from the Commission to the Council, to the European Parliament, to the European
Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions on the mid-term review of the
Strategy on Life Sciences and Biotechnology

COM(2007) 175 final

Political recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

acknowledges the key importance of

1.
life sciences and
biotechnology for the EU's international competitiveness and
sustainable development. There is major scope for their applica-
tion in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as in
feed,
industrial processing and primary production (food,
regrowing raw materials, alternative energy) — thus paving the
way for innovative approaches to pressing problems relating to
healthcare, demographic ageing, energy supplies for a growing
world population and global warming;

2.
agrees with the Commission's view that life sciences and
biotechnology contribute substantially to core EU policy goals
in terms of health and sustainable development, economic
growth and job creation;
it therefore welcomes the European
Commission's Strategy on promoting life sciences and biotech-
nology and acknowledges
the successes which have been
achieved in implementing the strategy;

3.
stresses that the application of biotechnologies should go
hand-in-hand with a broad social debate on the benefits and
risks, including ethical issues, in order to promote public accep-
tance of such technologies; this requires the sharing of informa-
tion on the scientific basis of these technologies;

welcomes the European networks of regions and clusters
4.
operating in the sphere of biotechnology and life sciences and
calls on the European Commission to support these networks,
with a view to promoting exchanges of experience, joint proces-
sing of project applications and common stances
in the
European political process;

competitiveness. Creating

5.
is aware that cities and regions exercise substantial influ-
ence on the development of life sciences and biotechnologies.
On the international scene, European biotechnology clusters are
relatively small; networking is therefore of decisive importance
for
together
research,
industry and financial backers, sharing technological
advances with the public, cooperating between regions and
across borders and pooling regional biotechnology clusters —
all these activities are dependent on support from cities and
regions in order to consolidate capacity and boost competitive-
ness on the international stage;

clusters, bringing

6.
recognises that that there is a strong need for many of the
numerous actions to continue, and declares its willingness to

contribute at regional level to successful continuation. In doing
so, opportunities and risks must be weighed up, and each indi-
vidual measure of the strategy must be evaluated in terms of its
benefits for citizens;

In relation to the mid-term review of the priorities set for the strategy

underlines

that cities and regions do their best

7.
to
contribute to promoting research and market development for
life sciences and biotechnology applications and the knowledge-
based bio-economy. It calls on cities and regions to help educate
users about the legal bases and administrative procedures in the
area of biotechnology. As well as cooperating with Member
States on improved coordination of research,
the European
Commission should also set up regional platforms or directly
involve regional groupings in its work;

steps

supports

to foster

competitiveness, knowledge
8.
transfer and innovation from the science base to industry:
awareness of
the commercial potential of research findings
needs to be raised; start-ups and exchanges between research
and industry must be promoted. To the best of their ability,
cities and regions should improve the supply of venture capital,
also for cross-border cooperation, and support those applying
biotechnological
inventions in patenting and making use of
patents. Financial institutions at regional, national and in par-
ticular at EU level should set up support programmes to enable
risk-sharing for SMEs in the biotechnology sector;

sees the need to improve the labour market situation by
9.
helping put people in jobs and supporting employees' basic and
continued training. Scientists and other profiles required for the
development of biotechnological businesses should be encour-
aged to stay in Europe and the workforce dissuaded from
emigrating and, if appropriate, recover highly qualified workers
that may have been trained or obtained professional experience
outside Europe through the creation of attractive conditions;

10.
points out that biotechnology offers promising future
alternatives for the chemical industry, in addition to its applica-
tions in health, food and animal feed. Already, 85 % of world-
wide enzyme requirements are produced in Europe. Enzymatic
and bio-catalytic procedures promise substantial savings in
resources and energy and thus offer new kinds of approaches
for maintaining a sustainable economy;

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11.
is aware that the public's attitude to bio-technological
applications in the food and animal feed sector is critical. On
one hand there is currently widespread general rejection of
these applications of gene technology in agriculture by the
majority of consumers; on the other hand, the public are extre-
mely positive about them, where the health and environmental
advantages of the products are clear;

12.
encourages informed societal debates on the benefits and
risks of life sciences and biotechnology: Many cities and regions
are already doing their best to educate the public on the funda-
mental scientific issues, methods, applications,
legal require-
ments and ethical
issues in the field of biotechnology. These
initiatives must be pursued vigorously;

calls on research, industry and public administration to
13.
relevant stakeholder groups must be
play a role here; all
involved in the dialogue together in one forum. Cities and
regions should provide stronger support for research projects
looking into the socio-economic and ethical issues in the field
of biotechnology, and for dissemination of the resulting find-
ings. They should set up specialist networks which could, on an
ad hoc basis, advise on current security-related, socio-economic
and ethical
issues. Cities and regions can support rational,
science-based and transparent product authorisation decision-
making processes;

14.
suggests that the European Commission, when approving
projects under the 7th framework programme, attach greater
importance to the phase of using experts to communicate
research results to the public; research should continue to focus
on the agricultural applications of gene technology, risks and
environmental and economic issues in this area;

regions will feel that the use of agricultural biotechnology is
beneficial, whereas other regions will take advantage of conven-
tional or organic farming methods;

17.
attaches considerable importance to the co-existence of
differing agricultural practices, not only in the interests of good
farming, but also of tolerance and trust between neighbouring
farmers in the exchange of information, coordination and coop-
eration. The European Commission is urged to develop guide-
lines for co-existence and practicable labelling thresholds for
seeds with traces of genetically modified organisms as soon as
In so doing, a solution should also be found for
possible.
‘constructs’ which the EU has not yet authorised and assessed
for safety, but which other countries have, using similar criteria;

18.
believes it is urgent to carry out research into the steps
which farmers need to take in order to secure conventional and
organic farming and their long term co-existence with techni-
cally modified plants, possible long-term repercussions of
GMOs, and the benefits and risks of GMOs used for regrowing
raw materials. It advocates an action programme for preserving,
characterising, collecting and using genetic resources in EU agri-
culture;

19.
welcomes the existing legislative framework in the field
of life sciences and biotechnology, but recognises the continuing
need for measures to ensure greater consistency between legisla-
tion in various areas, for example in intellectual property law. In
addition, given the need for EU competitiveness in the field of
biotechnology, opportunities must be examined for bringing the
legislative framework into line with what is widely accepted at
international level. Cities and regions are committing themselves
— within their competences — to uniform implementation of
European legislation; to this end, there should be inter-regional
and international dialogue;

15.
shares the opinion of the European Commission on the
importance of biotechnology applied to medical care from the
economic and public health points of view. Continued progress
in simplification and legislative clarification aspects in this
sector is supported, as rapid technological advances have slowed
this sector down as a result of
legislative uncertainty. The
drafting of guidelines and international recommendations elimi-
nating barriers and facilitating the development of these applica-
tions would be recommendable;

16.
also sees a possible role for modern biotechnology in the
sustainable development of agriculture. It supports the European
Commission's view that it should be possible for all forms of
agriculture, whether conventional, organic or with genetically
modified plants, to co-exist on an equal footing. It points out,
however, that topographical, climatic or structural conditions
could make it difficult for conventional and organic forms of
agricultural production to coexist alongside genetically modified
crops in certain regions. Informed consumers should be allowed
to choose the
to which modern biotechnological
products succeed on the market. Consequently, many cities and

extent

With regard to implementing the 2002 30-point Action Plan

20.
feels it is necessary for information on life sciences to be
improved, particularly in terms of employees' and teachers' basic
and further training. Inter-disciplinary dialogue between scien-
tists is to be encouraged;

recommends clarifying the intellectual property legisla-
21.
tion in the field of public research and explaining to academics
the importance of translating research findings into commercial
use. To this end, it also is important to step up international
dialogue;

22.
believes it necessary to improve the supply of capital to
the biotechnology sector, especially SMEs, through investment
in research and technological development as well as through
start-ups, support for technology transfer and commercial finan-
cing for businesses. Further development of the biotechnology
industry in Europe should be based on uniform criteria;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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23.
agrees with the moves in the European Commission's
‘Lead Market’ initiative to identify ‘bio-based products’ as a lead
market and calls on the European Commission to take account
the potential available in the regions of Europe in its
of
measures to promote and consolidate these lead markets;

24.
calls for further efforts to boost a more open approach
and transparency in relation to the European technology plat-
form (ETP) operating in the area of life sciences and bio-tech-
nology, so that as well as the industry and research community,
other stakeholders such as local and regional authorities and
particularly SMEs can become involved;

advocates a greater commitment by bio-technology
25.
regions in the ERA-Net Initiative under the 7th research frame-
work programme to coordinate national and regional research
programmes;

welcomes a stronger role for the European Group on
26.
Ethics. Cooperation between the Community and national and
regional levels on ethical and socio-economic issues should be
promoted. Ethical guidelines on e.g.
research,
biobanks, xenotransplantation, genetic tests and animal testing
should be developed;

stem cell

mendations, particularly in the field of food safety,
welcomed;

is to be

declares

its willingness,

in collaboration with the
28.
European Commission and the Member States, to scrutinise
research policy to see whether it embodies an appropriate mix
of conventional technology and new technology. It promises to
take steps to support the establishment of effective research
partnerships between developing countries and the EU. Sub-re-
gional, regional and international organisations, in particular the
International Agricultural Research Centres, are to be supported;

welcomes the European Commission's activities aimed at
29.
ensuring safe and effective use of modern biotechnology in the
developing countries and fostering the capacity of these states to
assess and manage risk. Working in collaboration with the inter-
national community, the EU has to boost the contribution of
tuberculosis and
research to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria,
other diseases brought about by poverty. It acknowledges the
European Commission's and the Member States' efforts to
support
the conservation and sustainable use of genetic
resources in the developing countries;

supports the continuation of

27.
the activities relating to
reference materials and validation of detection methods and
advocates the development of methods for monitoring the
adverse effects of genetically modified organisms, food and feed.
The leading role of the European Commission in the further
development of international guidelines, standards and recom-

30.
calls for a stronger forward-looking function for all
European Commission departments, especially in the technolo-
gical field, with a view to facilitating the early identification of
newly emerging issues. The relevance, coherence and effective-
ness of legislation and policies and their implementation and
social and economic impact are to be reviewed.

Brussels, 6 February 2008.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE