European Union Drugs Agency

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes the proposal for creating a European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA and supports that its mandate is reinforced to better respond to the growing challenges in the field of illicit drugs;
• calls for decisive actions to eradicate the drug trade, to prevent drug use and help curing and reintegrating drug users in society;
• stresses the importance of carrying out active inclusion policies with the involvement of social partners and CSOs targeting the more vulnerable in society, who are also more at risk of falling into drug addiction;
• underlines the crucial role of the social partners and organised civil society at every stage of the fight against the spread and use of drugs and illicit substances and especially in the information and awareness-raising campaigns;
• calls on the European Commission and the Member States to equip the National Contact Points (NCPs )NCPs with sufficient organisational, technical and financial resources to perform their expanded tasks effectively;
• suggests the adoption of a common methodology and approach on data collection;
• calls for the setting up of a network of (virtual) forensic and toxicological laboratories, built by clusters of Member States, which would foster the exchange of information on new developments and trends and data.