European Competitiveness Fund
DG GROW – Executive Vice-President SÉJOURNÉ 

Permanent materials – Facilitating the potential of permanent materials in the EU circular economy
DG ENV – Commissioner ROSWALL

Own resources – 2025 proposal
DG BUDG – Commissioner SERAFIN

In the opinion, the EESC:   

  •  considers that the EU has a timely opportunity to accelerate the transition towards a circular bioeconomy, combining resource efficiency, sustainable biomass use and industrial competitiveness, building on upcoming legislative initiatives such as the Circular Economy Act and the EU Bioeconomy Strategy; 
  • stresses that efficient use of resources requires applying the waste hierarchy and lifecycle thinking, prioritising prevention, reuse and material efficiency, while recognising both technical and biological circular pathways to achieve the best environmental outcomes; 
  •  highlights the potential of nature-based biodegradable materials to reduce pollution, support regional economies and strengthen EU competitiveness, while calling for greater regulatory coherence—particularly in the implementation of packaging legislation—to avoid barriers and enable innovation.

The full text of the opinion is available here.  

In the opinion, the EESC:   

  • highlights that Europe faces increasing pressure as a resource-constrained and import-dependent continent, and stresses the need to strengthen the European Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring coherence with circular economy, climate and biodiversity objectives to support a sustainable and competitive bioeconomy within planetary boundaries; 
  • recalls that EU leadership in the bioeconomy requires clear, strict and enforceable principles on the sourcing and use of biomass, applied across supply chains and equally to domestic and imported materials, while addressing unfair competition from underpriced fossil-based resources; 
  • reminds that the bioeconomy must fully respect the waste hierarchy by prioritising the reduction of resource use, ensuring that biomass is used efficiently and sustainably, and avoiding short-term applications that do not contribute to circularity.
Location
Vatican city, Vatican