Factors for Bioeconomy Development in EU Countries with Different Overall Levels of Economic Development

Abstract

The aim of this article is to indicate the rationale for the development of the bioeconomy in selected EU countries depending on their overall level of economic development. The research was based on four highly developed countries, i.e., Germany, France, Finland and Denmark, and four medium-developed countries, i.e., Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia for the period 2001–2018. Renewable energy consumption, biomass and agricultural production were analysed as determinants of the bioeconomy development. The question was also answered whether differences in terms of measures determining the level of bioeconomy development between countries with different levels of economic development during the studied period are decreasing or increasing, using sigma (σ)-convergence coefficients. It is shown that the development of the bioeconomy of the studied countries is related to their level of economic development. In the middle economically developed countries, real opportunities for the development of the bioeconomy are noted, through a high share of agriculture in national income; and in highly developed countries—high spending on research and development and the growth of eco-innovation, which contributes to maintaining a development advantage between these groups of countries.

The Potential of Polish Bioeconomy Compared to the European Union Countries

“…A balance must therefore be found between ensuring food security for society and protecting the environment. Thus, Agriculture supplies key resources that the bioeconomy can use (Czyżewski et al, 2021). The percentage of workers in the Bio-based textiles sector also decreased (by 0.8 pp.).…”

“…The bioeconomy concept is a response to the problems and challenges of today's world (Czyżewski, Grzyb, Matuszczak & Michałowska, 2021). Although a lot of damage due to irresponsible management cannot be reversed, the contemporary generation is responsible for redesigning the management into a different paradigm and reformulating the management objectives, and -most importantly -implementing methods of production that will not generate external effects (Pink & Wojnarowska, 2020).…”

“…Increased production, reduction in biodiversity, unstable prices of agricultural products and product price speculations, non-agricultural use of biomass, urbanisation of rural areas and a growing demand for public goods are also global challenges. Therefore, for several years many Community documents have been assigned a clear priority in the bioeconomy development strategy (Czyżewski et al, 2021). This concept is also being implemented on an increasingly wider scale in many EU member states (Liobikiene et al, 2021).…”

Insights into the Sustainable Development of the Bioeconomy at the European Level, in the Context of the Desired Clean Environment

“…Briefly, the authors concluded in a trenchant manner that “bioeconomy literature is making hardly any contribution to the debates and social currents that link gender, development, and sustainability” where “women are simply named”. Thirdly, by encompassing the quality of informal institutions in our analysis, we seek to emphasize how these unofficial norms are connected to the evolution of the bioeconomy (see also [ 24 ]). We believe that aggregating a world with the attributes of sustainability cannot be conceived outside the existence of good practices.…”

Economic Aspects of Low Carbon Development

“…The article by Czy żewski et al [3] concerned the premises of bio-economy development in selected EU countries depending on their general level of economic development. The research compared highly developed countries (Germany, France, Finland, and Denmark) and four countries with a relatively lower level of development (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia).…”