Patterns of European bioeconomy policy. Insights from a cross-case study of three policy areas

The concept of the bioeconomy has risen to great popularity with governments around the world as a new paradigm for a sustainable economy. However, it is still highly contentious what the bioeconomy actually is or should be, which results in a certain vagueness of bioeconomy policy strategies. European bioeconomy policy is a prime example of this. Despite two dedicated bioeconomy strategies, it appears to be highly fragmented and heterogeneous when it comes to concrete political processes and measures. Against this backdrop, we aim to find patterns of European bioeconomy policy by applying the political process-inherent dynamics approach (PIDA) to the three sub-areas of bioplastics, biofuels and bioenergy. Aggregating the respective results, the overarching pattern of European bioeconomy policy is rather shaped by the interplay of specific problem structures, institutional frameworks and actor constellations in its policy sub-areas than by the ambiguous umbrella concept of the bioeconomy.

Automated summary

The concept of the bioeconomy has gained popularity among governments worldwide as a new paradigm for sustainable economy, but its actual definition and direction remain contentious, leading to vague policy strategies. The European bioeconomy policy, despite having two dedicated strategies, appears to be fragmented and diverse in concrete political processes and measures. The overarching pattern of European bioeconomy policy is more influenced by specific problem structures, institutional frameworks, and actor constellations in its sub-areas rather than the ambiguous concept of the bioeconomy.