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01/11/14
Research, Innovation and Science

Commissioner delivers opening address at the Irish Presidency Conference 'Bioeconomy in the EU: Achievements and directions for the future'

Left to right: Paolo Bartolozzi, Member of the European Parliament, Commissioner, Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and David Beehan, Chief Inspector of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
"The bioeconomy is our daily bread and butter - literally. It's the food on our plates, the water from our taps, the newspaper in our hands. It can transform our waste into valuable resources"

 

Dublin, 14 February 2013


Minister Coveney, Mr Bartolozzi, Mr Beehan, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Irish Presidency for organising this conference. It is an honour to address you on this important subject, and to do so in such historic surroundings here in Dublin Castle.

People sometimes ask me - what is the bioeconomy?

There are many valid answers; it can mean different things to different people. One country or region's bioeconomy may look very different to another's, with varying emphasis on forestry, agriculture, the marine, or waste for example, depending on existing practices and available resources.

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