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.
The proposed rule in a REGI (Regional Development Committee) report of the EU Common Agricultural Policy would, on a practical level, extend the EU Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) subsidies for industrial hemp hemp flowers that are CBD rich.
For decades, Hemp and hemp-based crops are eligible for CAP payments.
‘Integral part of plant’
Valentina Palmisano is a member of the European Parliament from Italy’s Five Star Movement who leads the work to change the policy. She said that the expanded rule will classify hemp plants in all their parts as agricultural products, providing greater legal security for farmers. It also allows marketing hemp flowers “as an integral component of the plant without any undue differentiations.”
In the report, the authors cite scientific evidence that industrial hemp does not pose a risk to the human body. They also note that the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2020 ruled that CBD could not be considered narcotic and that CBD-based products were entitled to free trade within the EU.
Symbolism
Although the REGI proposal will push hemp flowers into agriculture instead of drug-related commerce, it is unlikely that subsidies by themselves can revive Europe’s CBD industry, as there are still much bigger obstacles associated with novel foods regulations.
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 the CAP
In the early 1990s, the EU treated hemp as an agricultural product under its subsidy regulations. EU eligibility was tied to low-THC certified varieties and direct payments. From 1976 to 1999 the THC threshold for subsidy eligibility ranged from 0.3% to 0.2% and then back to 0.3% with the most recent CAP reform, which took effect 2023.
The EU Farm Subsidy Program determines the per-hectare payment through a member state’s CAP Strategic Plan. Payments can be affected by land type, payment categories, as well as other factors such environmental incentive programs.
The EU-CAP structure is the main source of funding, but each member state has flexibility when it comes to implementation, compliance and additional national support.
Italian politics
It is important to note that the political context of the CAP reforms now being considered in Italy has been particularly sensitive. Palmisano and his Five Star Movement have fought against Giorgia Melons and her Fratelli d’Italia ruling party who are waging war on cannabinoids and hemp flowers.
Palmisano says that Fratelli d’Italia lawmakers tried to stop this part of the report by introducing amendments, but they failed to succeed in the committee.
Federcanapa, a hemp-growing group in Italy, noted that the REGI Committee had approved its application without comment.
The first step
The REGI voting is only a preliminary step in EU legislation for the changes of existing CAP Regulations.
Prior to negotiations with the European Commission, the proposal will still need to pass through the procedures of the European Parliament. This measure may take up to a year, or even longer, before it becomes EU policy.