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Pre-closure letter concerning a multiple complaint on alleged violation of EU law by the Italian Government for its ban on production and sales of hemp inflorescences - CPLT(2025)01027
The European Commission has received a large number of complaints concerning provisions of the Italian law imposing restrictions on the movement of hemp inflorescences or products containing such inflorescences. These complaints were registered under reference CPLT(2025)01027. The Commission acknowledged the receipt of the complaints by publishing a notice on 13 August 2025(1).
The complainants’ attention is drawn to the request for a preliminary ruling referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-716/25 Società Agricola Jure)(2), currently pending before the Court. One of the questions addressed to the Court by the national court reads as follows:
- Do Article 38 TFEU and the [relevant] provisions of Directives 2002/53/EC and 2002/57/EC and Regulations (EU) Nos 1307/2013, 1308/2013, 2021/2115 and 2022/126 preclude national legislation such as that resulting from the combined provisions of Articles 14 and 17 and Table II of Presidential Decree No 309/90 and Articles 1 and 2 of Law No 242/2016, in the version in force until 11 April 2025, as interpreted by diritto vivente (established and uniform case-law), in so far as that legislation does not permit the cultivation and use of the Cannabis sativa plants belonging to the varieties listed in the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species covered by Directive 2002/53/EC whose tetrahydrocannabinol content does not exceed that fixed in accordance with Article 32(6) and Article 35(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 for the purpose of using (i) leaves, (ii) inflorescences, (iii) oil and (iv) resin, irrespective of the level of THC present in those parts of the plant and, as regards oil, without distinguishing between oil extracted from seeds and oil extracted from inflorescences and leaves, thereby also effectively prohibiting the production and marketing of oil extracted from the seeds of the plant?
The services of the Commission note that the matters raised in the complaints are essentially covered by this referral for a preliminary ruling, insofar as the question above as referred to the Court concerns the possibility of using and/or marketing leaves, inflorescences and extracts thereof from Cannabis sativa plants whose tetrahydrocannabinol content does not exceed that laid down in accordance with Article 32(6) and Article 35(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 (3).
In light of these circumstances, the services of the Commission do not intend to pursue this investigation further, as it is more suitable in the present case to await the outcome ofthe preliminary ruling proceedings. Complainants are nonetheless invited to bear in mind that the Commission will ensure appropriate follow up of this preliminary ruling if the Court establishes non-compliance of national rules with EU law.
Such an approach is in line with the Communication “EU law: Better results through better application” (4), where it is underlined that the Commission will exercise the discretionary power that it enjoys in deciding which cases to pursue in situations “where preliminary ruling proceedings under Article 267 TFEU are pending on the same issue and Commission action would not significantly accelerate the resolution of the case”. As these two criteria are met in the present case, pursuing our investigation at the same time these issues are examined by the Court is not appropriate, all the more since the Commission is not empowered to determine conclusively the rights and duties of a Member State, as such rights and duties of Member States may be determined and their conduct appraised only by a judgment of the Court (see the judgments of 29 September 1998, Commission v Germany, C-191/95, EU:C:1998:441, paragraph 45 and of 27 May 1981, Essevi, C-142/80, EU:C:1981:121, paragraph 16).
The Commission services therefore intend to close the investigation of this multiple complaint.
Should the complainants have any additional elements or new information that might lead the services of the Commission to reconsider their position, they are invited to send them to EC-CPLT-AGRI
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (EC-CPLT-AGRI[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) within four weeks from the date of this letter.
Any information on this case received from complainants after the expiry of the above deadline and after they were informed of its closure, and which does not change the Commission’s decision to close your case, will not be answered.
(1) Multiple complaints - European Commission.
(2) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C_202600298.
(3) Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 608, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1307/oj.
(4) Communication from the Commission — EU law: Better results through better application, C(2016)8600, OJ C 18, 19.1.2017, p. 10, available online at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/RO/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52017XC0119(01).