Request for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) lodged on 11 February 2026 – Criminal proceedings against QN

(Case C-73/26, Korgen (1) )

(C/2026/2710)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

Party to the main proceedings

Questions referred

Does the sole circumstance that hemp (Cannabis sativa L) has been cultivated in a Member State of the European Union from seed of a variety included in the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species referred to in Directive 2002/53/EC (2) mean that EU law – in particular Article 1 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (3), the second paragraph of Article 4(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 (4) and/or Articles 34 and 36 TFEU – precludes the application to that hemp of national legislation, such as that applicable under Article 11 in conjunction with Article 3 of the Opiumwet (Law on Opium) (5), which, inter alia, prohibits the possession and importation of (unprocessed) hemp (Cannabis sativa L) from another Member State?

If the first question is answered in the negative, do the circumstances that

(i)

the hemp has been cultivated in accordance with the requirements arising from Articles 2 and 5 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 (6), in particular, the requirements concerning the notification of cultivation to the designated authorities, the type of seed used for cultivation and the time of harvest, and

(ii)	the THC content of that hemp does not exceed the threshold set in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 4(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 (currently 0.3 %),

mean that EU law – in particular, Article 1 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the second paragraph of Article 4(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and/or Articles 34 and 36 TFEU – precludes the application to that hemp of national legislation, such as that applicable under Article 11 in conjunction with Article 3 of the Law on Opium, which prohibits, inter alia, the possession and importation of (unprocessed) hemp (Cannabis sativa L) from another Member State?

If the hemp has been imported into the Netherlands from another Member State of the European Union, but this hemp has not been cultivated in accordance with the (cultivation) requirements arising from Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126, the following question is still relevant:

Does EU law – in particular, Directives 2002/53/EC and 2002/57/EC (7), Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 and 2021/2115, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 and/or Articles 35, 36 and 38 TFEU – preclude national legislation, such as that applicable under Article 11 in conjunction with Article 3 of the Law on Opium, which prohibits, inter alia, the possession and importation of (unprocessed) hemp (Cannabis sativa L), if such prohibitions relate to a case in which

—	the THC content of that hemp does not exceed the threshold value set in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 4(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 (currently 0.3 %), and

—	the cultivation of that hemp at the time of cultivation was in accordance with the (local) legislation in force in the other Member State?

(1) The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.

(2) Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (OJ 2002 L 193, p. 1).

(3) Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 671).

(4) Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 (OJ 2021 L 435, p. 1).

(5) Here and hereafter, this relates to the legislation as it applies in conjunction with Article 8 of the Law on Opium and Article 12 of the Opiumwetbesluit (Opium Law Decree).

(6) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 of 7 December 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council with additional requirements for certain types of intervention specified by Member States in their CAP Strategic Plans for the period 2023 to 2027 under that Regulation as well as rules on the ratio for the good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) standard 1 (OJ 2022 L 20, p. 52).

(7) Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants (OJ 2002 L 193, p. 74).