Active Geopolitics and Strategic Autonomy

Self-sufficiency and security of supply from renewable raw material

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The EU should reduce its dependence on fossil raw materials. To strengthen the resilience of the EU economy, the bio-based industries should be made an indispensable part of the EU’s geopolitical strategy. Policies should take into account the diversity of Europe’s natural ecosystems as a one-size-fits-all approach would not allow effective results.

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POLICY ASKS

  • Provide cumulative impact assessment of the new regulations affecting the availability of woody raw material.
  • Establish and use a science-based definition for renewable carbon consistently in EU legislation
  • Develop a coherent and predictable regulatory framework for the bioeconomy that recognises the diverse nature of renewable natural capital and its crucial role for the wellbeing of natural and built ecosystems.
  • Introduce EU-wide obligatory forest regeneration after harvesting so there is always more biomass growing than being harvested.
  • Phase-out direct financial subsidies for burning wood in energy installations and promote other climate friendly energy sources such as geothermal, nuclear, heat pumps, solar, wind, waste heat.

Against protectionism and securing a global level playing field for European industries

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International trade is the lifeline of the forest industry. Depending on the product category, up to 98 per cent of production in Finland is exported, with more than half going outside of the EU. As such, the forest-based sector is also a key actor in providing income to both forest owners and employees working in the sector as well as GDP for the Member States. An international patent survey* shows that Finnish forest industry companies are at the forefront of innovation in developing new products (e.g. related to microfibrillated and nanofibrillated cellulose, treatment of wastewater and sludge, as well as the recovery of lignin from black liquor).


POLICY ASKS

  • Make the circular bioeconomy a prominent feature in EU programmes.
  • Public-private-partnerships (PPP), such as the Circular Bio-Based Europe (CBE), should continue also in the next framework programme.
  • Fund more piloting, demonstration projects and up-scaling, which are the most expensive and risky phases of innovations in our industry.