Mon. Sep 16th, 2024

EU Drugs Agency: EU Commission welcomes political agreement

Mar 30, 2023 ,

Brussels, 28 March 2023

The Commission welcomes today’s political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on a stronger mandate which establishes a new EU Drugs Agency. The new Agency builds on the achievements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Illicit drugs pose a complex security and health problem that affect millions of people in the EU and globally. The European Drug Report 2022 estimates that over 83 million adults in the EU (i.e. 29% of the adult population) have used illicit drugs at least once during their lives. In 2020, an estimated 5 800 overdose deaths in the EU involved illicit drugs, most of which due to combinations of illicit opioids, other illicit drugs, medicines and alcohol (a practice also known as poly-drug toxicity).  At the same time, there is still a high availability of substances, in particular cocaine, as well as an increasing number of different substances, often of high potency or purity. These developments call for effective action at EU level.

With this enhanced mandate, the EU Drugs Agency will play a new role, including:

  • Issue alerts in case particularly dangerous substances become available on the market;
  • Develop threat assessments on illicit drugs that negatively impact public health, safety and security;
  • Monitor and address the simultaneous consumption of different drugs
  • Set-up a network of forensic and toxicological laboratories, bringing together national laboratories, to enhance information exchange on new developments and support training of forensic drug experts;
  • Develop and promote evidence-based interventions, best practice and awareness raising activities and assistance to Member States;
  • Provide research and support on health-related issues such as drug markets and drug supply;
  • Stronger international role with reinforced cooperation with key partners, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Narcotics Control Board, as well as also with regional, national, and other agencies and bodies in drug producer and transit countries;
  • Enhanced network of national contact points, in charge of providing the agency with the relevant data.
Next steps

The Regulation must now be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.

Background

The Commission proposed to strengthen the mandate of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, by transforming it into the European Union Drugs Agency, in January 2022. The proposal builds on findings of the Commission evaluation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, published in May 2019. On the basis of this evaluation, the EU Drugs Strategy for 2021 to 2025 – approved by the Council in December 2020 – invited the Commission to propose revising the Agency’s mandate to ensure that it plays a stronger part in addressing current and future challenges related to the drug phenomenon.

For More Information

Proposal for a Regulation on the European Union Drugs Agency (see also the annex to the proposal, the impact assessment and its executive summary).

Commission website on Drugs Policy

Quote(s)

Drug trafficking is a vicious crime tearing the fabric of our European society. Year after year, we see an increase in quantities, purity, and potency of substances arriving into Europe or which are produced in our Member States. The EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025 and related Action Plan set out ambitious and comprehensive actions addressing drug-related challenges from a supply, demand and harm reduction point of view. The role of the EU Drugs Agency is crucial for evidence-based policy of the Union. I welcome the stronger mandate agreed today which will increase the Agency’s capacity to react faster and in a more targeted way to challenges and emerging threats

Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs – 28/03/2023

Source – EU Commission

 

EU Drugs Agency: EU Council presidency and European Parliament agree to strengthen the agency’s role

The Council presidency and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a proposed regulation on the EU Drugs Agency, which will turn the existing European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction into a fully-fledged agency and strengthen its role. The provisional agreement is subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament before undergoing the formal adoption procedure.

The illegal drugs market is an incredibly lucrative market with a profound impact on our societies. Drugs and drug addictions cause enormous harm to the health of individuals and the wider society. It also affects security, not least because of violent drug-related organised crime. A stronger EU Drugs Agency will be an important tool to tackle these challenges at both EU and global level and to remain ahead of future risks.

Gunnar Strömmer, Swedish Minister of Justice

Drugs and drug addictions cause enormous harm to the health of individuals and their families. I welcome the provisional agreement on a new mandate for the EU Drugs Agency, which will provide better opportunities to work against drugs in a more comprehensive manner and facilitate important contributions from civil society to the work of the agency.

Jakob Forssmed, Swedish Minister for Social Affairs and Public HealthUnder the new regulation, the agency will be able to respond to new health and security challenges posed by illegal drugs in a more efficient way. It will also be better able to support member states and contribute to improving the situation at the international level.

The collection, analysis and dissemination of data will continue to be the main task of the agency, which under the enhanced mandate will also be able to:

  • develop general health and security threat assessment capabilities to rapidly identify new threats, and conduct regular foresight exercises to identify future challenges
  • cover specifically poly-substance use, which is the consumption of other licit or illicit substances together with drugs and which is becoming increasingly common
  • strengthen its cooperation with the national focal points, whose position will be reinforced, enabling them to provide relevant data on the national drug situation to the agency
  • put in place a network of laboratories which will enable the agency to access forensic and toxicological information
  • establish the competence of the agency to develop evidence-based interventions, to raise awareness and issue alerts when particularly dangerous substances appear on the market

The regulation will also clarify the role of the agency in the area of international cooperation, so that it can fully engage with third countries and bodies.

Background

The European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction was set up in 1993 in Lisbon, Portugal. Its aim is to provide factual, comparable information concerning drugs, drug addiction and their consequences to the EU and the member states to inform their policy making and guide initiatives to address drugs. Its work has greatly improved the availability of information on drugs and drug addiction across the EU, as well as internationally.

Forward to your friends