Europe Plans Support For 'Lead Markets'

The European Commission has identified six burgeoning market segments it wants member countries to foster through coordinated public-policy measures.

The six markets, which the commission believes have significant importance for the European Union, are protective textiles, sustainable construction, recycling, biobased products, renewable energies, and eHealth—a market that includes personalized health systems for patients.

The commission's Lead Market Initiative has set out a five-year plan of actions to support each of the six areas, which could in total represent some 3 million jobs and $450 billion in business for the EU by 2020. The European biotechnology industry has welcomed the initiative, particularly the support it will give in the areas of biobased products such as enzymes, biochemical building blocks, and bioplastics.

"By developing support policies and measures that will stimulate the demand for these products, this new policy will encourage innovation for biobased products by transforming knowledge into new bioproducts and bioprocesses," according to a statement from EuropaBio, the industry trade group.