CAP funding for hemp: the European Parliament gives its first approval

Brussels – Green light for the use of Common Agricultural Policy funds for hemp. Today (6 May), the European Parliament’s Regional Development Committee voted on the final text of the revision of the regulation on the common organisation of agricultural markets. The committee approved the report amending the EU School Programme regulation, which opens up the possibility of using CAP funds to support the industrial hemp sector. 

“The text clarifies that farmers can access CAP payments on the basis of the area cultivated, provided they comply with the standard criteria and those specific to hemp, including the obligation to use varieties with a THC content of less than 0.3 per cent,” explains the rapporteur Valentina Palmisano (M5S). 

“Fratelli d’Italia had tabled amendments to reject this part of the report,” continues Palmisano, “but the proposal was rejected.” 

The MEP adds that the scientific evidence “confirms that the hemp varieties considered by the Commission pose zero risk to human health.” Furthermore, the Court of Justice of the European Union “does not consider cannabidiol to be a narcotic substance within the meaning of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.” The report voted on today includes all parts of the hemp plant among agricultural products, so as to “thus offer greater legal certainty to farmers and also allow the marketing of the inflorescence as an integral part of the plant, without undue distinctions,” Palmisano specifies.