What changed

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

P10_TA(2025)0165

on the futureFuture of the EU biotechnology and biomanufacturing sector: leveraging research, boosting innovation and enhancing competitiveness

(2025/2008(INI))

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

PE768.143

European Parliament resolution of 10 July 2025 on the future of the EU biotechnology and biomanufacturing sector: leveraging research, boosting innovation and enhancing competitiveness (2025/2008(INI))

The European Parliament,

33. Underlines the need for a skilled and diverse European workforce in the biotechnology and biomanufacturing sector and for the promotion of entrepreneurial skills, in close collaboration with industry and research institutions; calls for increased investment in biotechnology and biomanufacturing education and targeted professional training, including in but not limited to areas such as regulatory compliance, quality assurance and process engineering; supports the development of competence centres and public-private training initiatives across all Member States to enable upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning to safeguard the attractiveness of the biotechnology and biomanufacturing industry; highlights the importance of adapting educational curricula to the evolving needs of the sector, and of promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, with a particular focus on attracting more girls and women into biotechnology and biomanufacturing careers; encourages more public awareness about career opportunities in the field to attract talent from non-EU countries and suggests exploring the potential for transatlantic cooperation; welcomes the recently launched Choose Europe for Science pilot scheme to attract top non-EU researchers, scientists and academics to Europe;

34. Calls for the urgent completion of the capital markets union to attract institutional investors to the biotechnology and biomanufacturing industry, including venture capital, pension funds and private equity; underlines that the sector is characterised by high levels of risk and that reducing the cost of investment failure in the EU is necessary for attracting large-scale capital investment; calls for dedicated support to ensure that biotechnology and biomanufacturing SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups can access sufficient funding and compete globally; stresses that cross-border investment barriers must be reduced to facilitate investment in biotechnology and biomanufacturing scale-ups;

35. Notes that public-private partnerships and mission-driven EU investment strategies, such as the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, are essential for de-risking biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation and for increasing the likelihood that IP and industrial capacity remain in Europe; urges EU investment instruments, such as the InvestEU programme, to be strengthened to support biotechnology and biomanufacturing projects considered as high-risk from an investment perspective; underlines that the sector is characterised by a high concentration of SMEs, which face disproportionate barriers in accessing capital despite being critical drivers of innovation; supports the exploration of a biotechnology Important Project of Common European Interest to facilitate industrial deployment and first-mover investments in bio-based chemicals, materials, and products and solutions;

41. Considers that the ethical use of AI, bioinformatics and synthetic biology is crucial for building trust and for society at large to benefit from these technologies; underlines the need to safeguard data privacy, data security, transparency and human oversight of the use of AI systems in the health biotechnology sector;

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42. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

To keep our high standard of living, our safety and future viability, Europe needs to be at the forefront of technological innovation and the EU must become world leading in research and innovation. These are the guiding principles to this report. Europe cannot succeed with its ambitions on competitiveness, decarbonisation and economic resilience without acknowledging the crucial role played by the EU’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing sector. This fascinating new science and technology transcends different industrial sectors and is based on the use of and work with living organisms, of the force of nature. It does not only enable ground-breaking innovations and manufacturing processes, it is of strategic importance in several different areas such as sustainability, economic security, food security and public health.

The growth potential of the biotechnology and biomanufacturing industry is immense and the productivity of the sector very high. The aim of this report is to shed light on the existing bottlenecks and to provide recommendations to support the industry to reach its full potential. As European lawmakers, we insist on the fact new regulation needs to be duly justified and globally connectable. The biotechnology and biomanufacturing sector encounters the general problems of other new sectors like the lack of transfer of academic knowledge to the market, insufficient access to capital and incoherent, outdated or inappropriate regulation and feedstock security. The biggest hurdle is the length of authorisation procedures in the EU giving away early-adapter advantages to competitors. There is high need to take into account the specificities of the sector also with regard to security and citizen involvement, biotechnology in terms of regulation presents a showcase for further testing regulatory sandboxes. To ensure full focus, better coordination and detectable improvements for European biotechnology and biomanufacturing companies, the creation of a Chief Biotechnology Officer in the European Commission is recommended.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur declares that she received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the report, prior to the adoption thereof in committee

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE