EU Drugs Strategy (2005-2012)

The European Council of 17 December adopted the Drugs strategy 2005-2012, which will be included in the Hague Programme for the development of the EU’s area of freedom, security and justice.

The Strategy builds on the EU Drugs Strategy 2000-2004 and Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004 as well its 2002 Mid-Term Review

To facilitate practical implementation, there will be two consecutive Action Plans on Drugs, based on the new Strategy, describing specific interventions and actions.

The Commission has undertaken to put forward a proposal for a Drugs Action Plan 2005-2008 early in 2005, after an extensive consultation with experts, professionals and representatives of civil society.

The Strategy concentrates on two policy fields, demand reduction and supply reduction, and on two cross-cutting themes, international cooperation and research, information and evaluation.

Demand reduction

The new Drugs Strategy aims to achieve a "measurable reduction of the use of drugs, of dependence and of drug-related health and social risks".

The envisaged drug reduction measures include:

 preventing people from starting to use drugs;

 preventing experimental use becoming regular use;

 early intervention for risky consumption patterns;

 providing treatment programmes;

 providing rehabilitation and social reintegration programmes;

 reducing drug-related health and social damage.

Supply reduction

In the field of supply reduction, the Strategy envisages the following measures:

 focusing on drug-related organised crime, including cross-border drug trafficking, the diversion of drug precursors, drug trafficking and the financing, and money laundering in relation to drug crime;

 more effective use of existing instruments and frameworks, such as Joint Investigation Teams, the European Arrest Warrant, Europol and Eurojust, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols.

 regional or thematic cooperation between EU Member States that have common interests and/or face the same drug-related problems;

 intensifying law enforcement efforts directed at non-EU countries, especially producer countries and regions along trafficking routes.

International cooperation

The Strategy aims to promote a balanced approach to the drugs and precursor problem in dealings with international organisations and third countries.

This implies:

 coordinating Member States’ actions in international fora concerned with the drugs problem, such as the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, the WHO, and the United Nations Offices on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS);

 special efforts in relation to the candidate countries, and potential candidate countries, such as the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

 assisting third countries, including European Neighbourhood Countries, and key drug producing and transit countries to be more effective in both drugs demand and drugs supply reduction.

Information, research and evaluation

In the field of information and research the following priorities are identified:

 improving the EU knowledge infrastructure in the field of drugs and consolidating the drug information systems and tools developed over the 2000-2004 period, making full use of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol;

 large-scale exchanges and dissemination of research results, experiences and good practices, both at Member State and EU levels;

 special focus on training of professionals and consulting civil society.

Related links:

 Presidency Conclusions of the European Council

 Resolution on the European Drugs Strategy adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs