Brussels, Belgium
November 27, 2025

The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) welcomes the communication adopted by the European Commission, A Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy, which sets out a renewed vision for building a sustainable, circular, and resource-efficient economy across Europe. EIHA strongly supports the new Bioeconomy strategy’s focus on unlocking investments, simplifying regulation and encouraging market demand. It also welcomes the fact that the document explicitly recognises hemp among potential, notably in the textile and construction sectors.

“It is more relevant than ever to engage in the policy discussions taking place in Brussels and to contribute our expertise to the upcoming regulatory changes. Hemp embodies the very essence of the European bioeconomy: renewable, circular and local. The coming years can be pivotal for the sector,” said Francesco Mirizzi, EIHA Managing Director. “To unlock its full potential, hemp must be clearly recognised as a strategic industrial crop — not only in policy documents, but above all in concrete implementation measures. Ensuring that this happens is our responsibility as a trade association.”

The Strategy’s strong emphasis on industrial deployment, scaling bio-based manufacturing and strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy makes hemp more relevant than ever. “The Commission has proposed concrete actions that directly address the two main challenges facing the European hemp sector: financing the structuring and scaling of the value chain, and creating sustainable consumer markets for hemp products” Mr Mirizzi added. “If properly implemented, these measures could have a transformative impact on our sector.”

EIHA has identified the following actions announced in the Strategy as particularly important for the hemp sector:

• Mobilising investments via the Bioeconomy Investment Deployment Group, the European Competitiveness Fund, Horizon Europe and EIB-backed tools (e.g. European Circular Bioeconomy Fund) to finance hemp processing, biorefineries, fibre transformation and scale-up infrastructure.
• Ensure hemp processing, bio-materials and construction uses are fully included as EU taxonomy, unlocking sustainable finance tools.
• Pooling demand through the Bio-based Europe Alliance, which commits €10bn in bio-based purchases by 2030, enabling long-term offtake agreements for hemp-based textiles, packaging, and building materials.
• Leveraging the revision of EU public procurement rules to prioritise bio-based materials, enabling public buildings and infrastructure to adopt hemp insulation, textiles and fibre-based materials at scale.
• Facilitating fast-track approvals and harmonised EU standards for biobased products, for example via the EU Biotech Acts, to reduce market delays and enable faster industrial deployment of hemp-based materials and biomanufacturing technologies.
• Fostering hemp demand through product legislation for textiles (durability, environmental footprint), packaging targets for bio-based fibres and materials, and construction product standards and carbon certification for hemp-based building solutions.
• Using CAP funding, Industrial Symbiosis Valleys and biomanufacturing hubs to develop vertically integrated hemp clusters linking farmers, processors and manufacturers across regions

EIHA stands ready to engage with the Commission to ensure these measures explicitly cover hemp cultivation, processing, and market uptake. By harnessing the full potential of hemp, Europe can reduce dependence on fossil-based materials, create local jobs, and accelerate progress toward climate neutrality. Hemp’s unique ability to deliver local biomass, long-term carbon storage, low-input cultivation and cross-sector applications positions it as a key enabler of the Strategy’s 2040 vision.

About EIHA
The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) is the only pan-European membership organisation representing the hemp sector. Its members include farmers, processors, manufacturers, and traders working with hemp fibres, shives, seeds, leaves, and cannabinoids. EIHA represents and defends the interests of the hemp industry at the European level, promoting a fair, science-based regulatory environment that enables the sustainable growth of the hemp sector.

Website: https://eiha.org/

Published: November 27, 2025