In all of the participating countries Industrial Biotechnology (IB) is recognized as a key technology for a sustainable chemical industry and society and of utmost importance for economic growth and innovation in Europe. IB, although already successfully established in some sectors, is still in its infancy. Therefore, more in-depth knowledge derived from both basic as well as applied research, is necessary to fully explore the wide range of possibilities. As national strategies and activities in this area are currently being developed and implemented, it is now the moment for effective coordination and cooperation in Europe. The partners of this ERA-IB committed themselves to enhanced cooperation and coordination in IB research funding and management policies. The structured work programme includes the development of dedicated procedures and systems for coordination and integration of national programmatic research activities, identification of important themes for new research programmes, and creation of (new) transnational managed research programmes (including joint calls for proposals). In selecting the most important research themes for these jointly managed research programmes, the ERA-IB closely cooperates with the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry and the European Federation for Biotechnology (EFB). The ultimate goal of ERA-IB is to establish a network that will serve as a basis for a long lasting European research cooperation in Industrial Biotechnology.