*Article* **The Bioeconomy and Foreign Trade in Food Products—A Sustainable Partnership at the European Level?**

### **Dan Costin Nit,escu \* and Valentin Murgu**

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance and Banking, Department of Money and Banking, 010961 Bucharest, Romania; valentin\_murgu@hotmail.com

**\*** Correspondence: dan.nitescu@fin.ase.ro

Received: 10 February 2020; Accepted: 17 March 2020; Published: 20 March 2020

**Abstract:** This research addresses the problem of the synergistic relationship between the sustainable development of the green economy (bioeconomy) at the European level and the commercial flows with food. Mainly, two components were analyzed and integrated: A qualitative one, on the perspective of the development of the bioeconomy at the European level, and a quantitative one, on the study of the nature of the inter-correlation between the exogenous indicators of foreign food trade (exports and imports) and the relevant endogenous indicators (the labor force, gross added value of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, research and development expenditure, forest area, fossil fuel energy consumption, and renewable energy consumption), for 24 European countries over a 22 year period. Exports and imports of food products are positively influenced by the added value of the agricultural sector and by the share of research and development expenditures, both in the short and long term. Renewable energy consumption influences exports in the short term, but in the long term, the forest area has a significant positive impact. Imports are negatively influenced by renewable energy consumption. The findings of this research can provide support for the future mix of policies.

**Keywords:** sustainability; bioeconomy; foreign trade in food products; agriculture; labor force; research and development; renewable energy; European Union
