Nieuwe grondslagen voor antidrugs-agentschap (en)

Today, the Commission approved a recast of the original Council Regulation (EEC) N° 302/93 on the establishment of a European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). This Regulation had been updated a number of times to keep pace with developments within the European Union, such as enlargement and the reform of the EU financial Regulations.

The new text boosts the Centre's role in the area of new patterns of drug use and formalises certain aspects of its structure that have evolved over the years, such as the Reitox Network of Focal Points in the Member States for instance, whose existence and role are now laid down in article 5 of the updated Regulation. Specific reference is also made to Council Decision 2005/387 /JHA and the Centre's role in the preparation of EU action on the information exchange, risk assessment and control of new psychoactive substances.

The new text seeks to bring the EMCDDA's rules more into line with the Commission's draft inter-institutional agreement on a framework for all EU agencies (COM(2005)59). It is also designed to enable the EMCDDA to align its work more closely with EU policies on drugs as embodied in the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2005-2008, recently endorsed by the Council.

The Commission's proposal will be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council for decision under the co-decision procedure.