Press releases
17 September 2013, Zwingenberg

BRAIN CEO Dr. Holger Zinke appointed to the EU Commission Bioeconomy Panel

Dr. Holger Zinke, founder and CEO of the biotechnology company BRAIN AG, has been appointed as one of 30 members on the European panel.

The European Bioeconomy Panel consists of key experts from the fields of science, research, politics, business, industry and public services. In addition to Dr. Holger Zinke, two more German members were appointed to the panel: Dr. Doris Schnabel from the North Rhine-Westphalian Department of Innovation, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Pickel, deputy director of the European Technology and Innovation Centre (ETIC), John Deere GmbH & Co in Kaiserslautern.

The task and objective of the five directorates AGRI - Agriculture ENTR - Enterprise and Industry, ENV - Environment, MARE - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the RTD - research and innovation body, is to oversee the implementation of the European Union’s bioeconomy strategy, to improve communication between initiatives and the political and economic sectors, both at EU and national levels, and to create synergies in European actions and measures for a biobased economy in Europe.

In 2010, the President of the EU Commission, Prof. Dr. J.M. Barroso, published an economic strategy for the EU Commission entitled, “Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, which referred to the establishment of a sustainable, bio-based eco-nomic system as a key action (“key deliverable”).

The “Bioeconomy Strategy” introduced in 2012 entitled, “Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe” and its associated action plan clarifies this, and the establishment of a bioeconomy panel and a bioeconomy observatory for monitoring and supervising the effectiveness of policy measures was announced.

The bioeconomy sector is worth 2 trillion Euros in annual turnover and employs 22 million people, accounting for 9% of total employment figures, making it a key component of the European economy. It is expected that 130.000 new jobs and an added value of 45 billion Euros can be generated by 2025 through the Horizon 2020 scheme alone.

“The challenges of building a biobased economy in terms of sustainable development are both enormous and diverse, it is a complex system. It is an honour to be able to bring the experience of a networked technology company to the ‘European Bioeconomy Panel’ “, says Dr. Holger Zinke. “By now, BRAIN AG has worked as a white biotechnology company on nearly 100 completed projects on the development of novel biological products and processes across the entire range of industries. The crucial element is the integration of development and market across the entire value chain, removing obstacles to market entry and allowing access to capital.”

Dr. Zinke is also vice chairman of the Industrial Association White Bio-technology e.V. (IWBio) and a member of the German Bioeconomy Council, as a spokesman for the working group competition.

Weiterführende Links zum Thema:

EU Bioeconomy Panel
EU Bioeconomy Stategy]
Barroso Paper “Europe 2020”
Deutscher BioÖkonomierat
Industrieverbund Weisse Biotechnologie



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