38. Strategies for Bioeconomy in Central and Eastern Europe: BIOEAST Initiative and BIOEASTsUP Project

The concept of bioeconomy is relatively new in the world. As a consequence, the strategies and policies in economy have changed toward bioeconomy. They follow the goals fixed by the concept. The study presents the concept, BIOEAST Initiative and BIOEASTsUP Project. Based on the information available, it is presented the level of development of the strategies, in the European Union (EU) countries, with special focus on Central and South Eastern member states. The study highlights the opportunities, threats, challenges the countries have, using the findings from BIOEAST and BIOEASTsUP and the links between them. To reach the objectives proposed, statistical data available on the official web pages of the European Commission (EC), documents elaborated by EU institutions, and texts and analyses from initiative and project were used. For better understanding of the initiative and the project, it is presented the role the project has, to help the achievement of the objectives established in bioeconomy, when the BIOEASTS was created for countries from Central and South East of EU. The results of the study reflect the benefits of the strategies. They open new opportunities for member states and eliminate the main issues appeared in economy in the last decades. By initiative and project, the creation of the strategies in accordance with EU regulations is important and useful in the future, especially if we have in view the EU funds available in this field. Obviously, in Europe, especially for EU member states, bioeconomy will become more and more important and will play strategic role at the national level.