The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is the private partner of the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). We view Joint Undertakings (JUs) as a European success story, delivering measurable impact on competitiveness and resilience through research and innovation funding in strategic industrial sectors.
Only JUs like the CBE JU can support the scale-up and deployment of new technologies at EU level. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for governance, as different industry structures and dynamics lead to different needs, and this must be reflected in each JU's set-up and objectives.
The CBE JU is a key contributor to the EU's vision for a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy, and the main EU instrument covering the "first innovation valley of death" in this sector. For strategic industrial sectors with multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral and cross-border value chains, JUs like the CBE JU remain an indispensable tool.
The CBE JU (and its predecessor BBI JU) have a proven structuring and mobilising effect across sectors, enabling projects that would not have been realised in Europe without it, leveraging private investment, ensuring SME/start-up access, driving cross-fertilisation, and delivering innovative solutions.
In today's geopolitical context, a JU like CBE (or a future "CBE 2") is more important than ever: to capitalise on Europe's scientific excellence, keep innovation development in Europe, and deliver on EU policy objectives, including the bioeconomy strategy, Industrial Accelerator Act, and upcoming Biotech Act II and Circular Economy Act.
We urge the Commission to engage timely with JU private partners on the future of the JU model. BIC supports integrating the European Competitiveness Fund with Horizon Europe funding to cover the full innovation-to-investment journey, and remains committed to shaping the future of the CBE JU under the next MFF (2028–2034).
