Whose European bioeconomy? Relations of forces in the shaping of an updated EU bioeconomy strategy

The Bioeconomy has become an increasingly important issue on the agendas of European research, energy and agricultural policies. With the development of a bioeconomy strategy in 2012, a distinct policy field has been established. In this strategy, the EU-Commission defined guiding principles for the bioeconomy in Europe, with major emphasis on research and innovation. In the course of 2017 and 2018, the strategy was reviewed leading to the publication of an updated document. During the review process, political actors from different sectors of society expressed their views on the future of the bioeconomy in Europe. Their positions varied considerably from those advocating a continuation of existing policy to those calling for a fundamental reassessment of European bioeconomy. However, the range of positions has not led to a fundamental debate on the aims and the substance of the strategy. In this article, this is explained based on the insights of neo-Gramscian international political economy (IPE) about the character of European integration. Hegemonic ideas and the broader relations of forces in European capitalism shape a field of action that is not neutral to the actors involved in bioeconomy politics.