A European Parliament committee has backed language that would extend farm supports to growers producing hemp flowers – just as Europe’s tightening CBD rules are squeezing the market that made those crops valuable in the first place.
In practical terms, the proposed rule, in a report from the Parliament’s Regional Development Committee (REGI), would extend subsidies for industrial hemp to CBD-rich hemp flowers under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Hemp grain and fiber crops have been eligible for CAP payments for decades.
‘Integral part of plant’
Valentina Palmisano, a European Parliament member from Italy’s Five Star Movement, who is leading work on the policy change, said the expanded rule would classify all parts of the hemp plant as agricultural products to provide greater legal certainty for farmers, and permit marketing of hemp flowers “as an integral part of the plant, without undue distinctions.”
The report cites scientific findings that show industrial hemp poses no risk to human health, and notes that the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2020 that CBD cannot be regarded as narcotic, and that CBD products should enjoy free trade across the union.
Symbolism
While the REGI proposal is significant because it pushes hemp flowers back toward agriculture rather than drug-adjacent commerce, subsidies alone are unlikely to revive Europe’s weakened CBD sector, which continues to face much larger obstacles tied to novel foods regulation.
Any sustained recovery would likely depend on clearer long-term rules, renewed financing and development of stable outlets for hemp flowers beyond the shrinking “wellness” CBD market – as structural pressures continue to radically reshape the hemp cannabinoid business in Europe.
Europe and CAP
The modern CAP framework largely traces to the EU’s treatment of hemp under agricultural subsidy rules in the 1990s. The EU tied eligibility to certified low-THC varieties and direct farm payments. The THC limit linked to subsidy eligibility was 0.3% from 1976 to 1999, later fell to 0.2%, then returned to 0.3% under the latest CAP reform that took effect in 2023.
Under the EU farm subsidy program, per-hectare payments are generally determined through each member state’s CAP Strategic Plan, and can vary significantly depending land type, payment category, and other factors, including environmental incentive programs.
Funding largely originates through EU CAP structures, but member states maintain flexibility in implementation, compliance procedures and supplemental national supports.
Italian politics
The political backdrop to the CAP changes now under review is especially sensitive in Italy, where Palmisano’s Five Star Movement has fought back against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her ruling Fratelli d’Italia party, which has waged war on hemp flowers and cannabinoids.
According to Palmisano, lawmakers from Fratelli d’Italia introduced amendments seeking to block this portion of the report, but the effort failed in committee.
Italian hemp group Federcanapa noted the REGI committee approval without extensive comment.
First step
The REGI vote is only an early step in the EU legislative process for changes to existing CAP regulations.
The proposal must still move through additional European Parliament procedures before negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. The measure could take a year or longer to become final EU policy, depending on interim negotiations and possible amendments.