Aligning the circular economy and the bioeconomy at EU and national level

Key points

The EESC:

• stresses that coherence is needed with European Green Deal, sustainable development commitments, the circular economy and broader climate and biodiversity targets. A robust bioeconomy will complement progress made on circular economy and will allow for competitive growth within planetary boundaries consistent with sustainability;

• finds that the opportunity for the EU to be a global leader should be capitalised on with a highly ambitious, coherent bioeconomy strategy. Well-paid sustainable jobs, including in rural and remote regions, should be maximised. Existing technology can be used to bring urgently-needed products and services to the market assisting innovation, supported by a strong and interlinked circularity legislative package;

• is of the opinion that the EU needs a clearly-defined definition of bioeconomy in order to explicitly emphasise its link to the circular economy and its potential as a tool for delivering on sustainable development.

This opinion was elaborated with the participation of the following Enlargement Candidate Members:

• David TSISKARIDZE (Group I), International Business and Economic Development Center

• Shota JAVAKHADZE (Group II), Georgian Trade Unions' Confederation

• Giorgi MAMULASHVILI (Group III), The Greens Movement of Georgia / Friends of the Earth, Georgia