Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Commission has welcomed an agreement between the EU Council and Parliament on the founding of a new EU agency.
In a statement released on March 28, the EC stressed that the new EU Drugs Agency will build on the achievements of the EU Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
The body states that illegal drugs “pose a complex security and health problem that affects millions of people in the EU and globally,” adding that nearly one-third of adults in the EU have tried illegal drugs at least once, according to the 2022 EU drug report.
EU authorities estimate that 5,800 people died from an overdose in the EU last year, which the EC sees as justification for the introduction of bloc-wide rules.
The Commission pointed out that the EU Drugs Agency will issue alerts “in the case particularly dangerous substances become available on the market” as well as assess the negative impact of drugs on public health, security, and safety.
The new agency will also build a network of laboratories “to enhance information exchange on new developments and support training of forensic drug experts” and develop interventions and activities aimed at raising awareness.
Cooperation with other bodies
The EC said that the agency will cooperate with the UN and other international, national, and regional agencies and bodies in countries where drugs are produced.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson stated that “drug trafficking is a vicious crime tearing the fabric of our EU society… year after year we see an increase in quantities, purity, and potency of substances arriving into the EU or which are produced in our member states.”
“The role of the EU Drugs Agency is crucial for an evidence-based policy of the Union,” she added. “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.”
The Commission noted that the proposal still needs to be formally approved by the EU Council and Parliament, and added that the move is in line with the EU Drugs Strategy for the period between 2021 and 2025, which the EU Council approved in December 2020.