EuropaBio: response to the Eurobarometer on Biotechnology 2010

EuropaBio has announced that it is cheered by the findings of the European Commission’s Eurobarometer on public perceptions of life sciences and biotechnology, released last week, which indicated that confidence and optimism about biotechnology is on the rise.

The survey, conducted in February of this year, showed that 80 per cent of Europeans are in favour of, or are unopposed to, biotechnology. However, findings also highlighted that Europeans want more information about the technology.

Nathalie Moll, EuropaBio Secretary General, said, “These findings are very encouraging. They show that Europeans increasingly understand and appreciate the benefits that biotechnology brings to them in terms of healthier, longer lives, cleaner, greener products and processes and increased food and energy security.”

“In particular, we are delighted by the overwhelming support for medical biotechnology and for the strong support shown for crop-based and non-food based biofuels. Given that Europe has access to only a fraction of the agricultural biotech products on the market compared to the rest of the world, it is even more crucial that we communicate the benefits of the technology with respect to the sustainable use of our natural resources in agriculture, our food security and our economy.”

Andrea Rappagliosi, EuropaBio Chairman, said, “We are delighted that in releasing these results [the European Commission] has underlined that biotechnology can make an enormous contribution to our Europe 2020 goals of sustainable growth and better health and quality of life and that as such it will remain a key research area under EU Framework Programmes.”

“European support for this technology is fundamental to our fulfilling our global potential in this field and these results provide an important vote of confidence and a boost to the European biotech industry.”