Today (February 19, 2026), Cannabis Europa returns to the French capital for the first time since 2019 at a critical juncture for the incoming French medical cannabis industry.
Just the evening before, French authorities met with industry stakeholders to present the first draft of the country’s long-awaited medical cannabis reimbursement framework, the final regulatory piece needed to move France from pilot programme to permanent market. Delegates arriving at the venue this morning did so knowing they were about to receive a first-hand account of what was discussed.
Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Prohibition Partners, opened proceedings by highlighting just how far the market, and Europe as a whole, has come in the seven years since Cannabis Europa last visited the city.
“We’ve moved from the perception of ‘is medical cannabis legitimate’ all the way through to actually getting medical cannabis into the hands of patients,” Murphy told delegates. “France is probably, in my mind, one of the most important European conversations taking place this year.”
Below, we’ve summarised the key insights from the day’s sessions, and we will be updating in real time.
Last night (February 18, 2026) a consultation meeting, organised by the Direction Générale de la Santé (DGS) and the Direction de la Sécurité Sociale (DSS), saw stakeholders receive the first concrete view of the planned economics of the incoming market.
This morning, delegates were given an overview of the government’s economic model for cannabis medicines in concrete terms for the first time.
UIVEC President Ludovic Rachou, whose organisation helped coordinate the reimbursement dossier submitted to HAS last September, laid out the newly revealed plans to the room.
In December 2025, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), the body responsible for evaluating medicines and approving them for coverage under France’s public health system, paused its assessment of cannabis medicines after concluding it could not finalise reimbursement structures without the published decree. That decree has now been drafted.
The post Cannabis Europa Paris 2026: France’s Medical Cannabis Reimbursement Plans Revealed appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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Just the evening before, French authorities met with industry stakeholders to present the first draft of the country’s long-awaited medical cannabis reimbursement framework, the final regulatory piece needed to move France from pilot programme to permanent market. Delegates arriving at the venue this morning did so knowing they were about to receive a first-hand account of what was discussed.
Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Prohibition Partners, opened proceedings by highlighting just how far the market, and Europe as a whole, has come in the seven years since Cannabis Europa last visited the city.
“We’ve moved from the perception of ‘is medical cannabis legitimate’ all the way through to actually getting medical cannabis into the hands of patients,” Murphy told delegates. “France is probably, in my mind, one of the most important European conversations taking place this year.”
Below, we’ve summarised the key insights from the day’s sessions, and we will be updating in real time.
Will medical cannabis be reimbursed for patients?
Last night (February 18, 2026) a consultation meeting, organised by the Direction Générale de la Santé (DGS) and the Direction de la Sécurité Sociale (DSS), saw stakeholders receive the first concrete view of the planned economics of the incoming market.
This morning, delegates were given an overview of the government’s economic model for cannabis medicines in concrete terms for the first time.
UIVEC President Ludovic Rachou, whose organisation helped coordinate the reimbursement dossier submitted to HAS last September, laid out the newly revealed plans to the room.
In December 2025, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), the body responsible for evaluating medicines and approving them for coverage under France’s public health system, paused its assessment of cannabis medicines after concluding it could not finalise reimbursement structures without the published decree. That decree has now been drafted.
- The proposed model establishes a tiered reimbursement structure tied directly to Haute Autorité de Santé’s (HAS) assessment of each product’s therapeutic benefit.
- Coverage rates will be set at 65%, 30%, 10%, or 0%, corresponding to major, moderate, minor, or insufficient benefit, respectively.
- However, Rachou noted that the headline rates may be less significant than they appear for many patients. Since the majority of eligible patients suffer from long-term conditions qualifying for ALD status under the French system, most should ultimately access cannabis medicines at 100% coverage regardless of the base reimbursement tier. That question, he noted, is still being finalised.
- Pricing will be structured by homogeneous product categories, grouping medicines by pharmaceutical form, composition, and clinical characteristics, with a single price applied across each category.
- Prices will be fixed for three years and can be revised upward or downward if new clinical evidence emerges.
- The consultation period following the February 18 meeting is expected to last between three weeks and one month, during which stakeholders can submit formal comments on the draft text.
- If proceedings go to plan, the outstanding regulatory decrees, including those covering cultivation, technical specifications, and the legal status of cannabis-based medicines, will be formally adopted in June.
- At that point, companies will be able to begin product registration with the French drug agency ANSM, while HAS simultaneously resumes its evaluation.
- A final HAS opinion on reimbursement is anticipated around October-November 2026, with patients still enrolled in the pilot programme covered under an extended derogatory scheme until 31 December 2026.
- The precise pricing methodology for each product category remains subject to ongoing discussion between UIVEC and the authorities, a process Rachou indicated the trade body intends to pursue actively in the months ahead.
The post Cannabis Europa Paris 2026: France’s Medical Cannabis Reimbursement Plans Revealed appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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