AbstractThis paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's policy for the EC's bio-industries as presented in the Commission's communication to the European Parliament and the European Council, entitled “Promoting the competitive environment for the industrial activities based on biotechnology within the Community”. The conclusion is that the European Commission's proposed biotechnology policy is theoretically unsound and is corporatist in its intentions and therefore likely to detract from, rather than enhance, the competitiveness of modern biotechnology in Europe.