Commissioner Roswall's address at a High-Level Stakeholder Dialogue; 'From Strategy to Action: Accelerating Europe's Bioeconomy Revolution' as part of the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026

From Strategy to Action: Accelerating Europe's Bioeconomy Revolution -NEB 2026

Thank you all for being here. Thank you also for your great interest in the bioeconomy. Not only as an environmental topic, but as part of the transformation we need to do across all sectors, to become more resilient and more independent.

The war in Iran reminds us every day that we remain far too dependent on fossil fuel products and feedstocks.

So the potential of biobased materials has probably never been as big as it is now.

Together with you today, I want to make the link between bioeconomy and the New European Bauhaus. As you know, this week is a lot about the NEB, with a festival here in the park.

Usually, when I organise stakeholder roundtables as we do today, we do a full table round, every person speaks and then we discuss at the end.

Today we have changed the format a bit to match the NEB's creative approach. So, we will do more of a workshop format, with two discussions.

And I'm really looking forward to this creative dialogue and hope to get some new insights and ideas.

I am here to listen but let me say a few words to set the scene:

The New European Bauhaus initiative aims to integrate sustainable solutions, with a focus on the built environment, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

To drive the construction sector towards low-carbon, circular, and bio-based solutions, NEB projects have experimented with innovative materials and techniques —from bio-based and recycled resources to novel construction methods and innovations.

The EU's Bioeconomy Strategy aims to create demand and investment in sustainable construction materials, such as wood, straw and hemp.

I think the Bioeconomy Strategy and the NEB can complement each other very well in several ways:

1. Supporting cutting-edge research through the NEB Facility;
2. Upskilling the workforce via the NEB Academy; and
3. Scaling up support for businesses, innovators, and communities.

I would like to hear your views. Are we doing the right things? Does it work in practice?

I am particularly interested in your ideas on:

• • How to make the EU Bioeconomy Strategy's governance model genuinely effective;
  • Which market-creation instrument would be best to unlock scalable investment;
  • And what are the biggest challenges that we need to tackle in the context of the Bio-Based Europe Alliance, which we are about to launch as a deliverable from last year's Strategy.

I am looking forward to the discussion.