Answer to written question on New anti-addiction strategy for 2013-2020

28 June 2010. WRITTEN QUESTION E-2702/10 by Salvatore Iacolino (PPE) and Mario Mauro (PPE) to the Commission

Subject: New anti-addiction strategy for 2013-2020

Having regard to the following:

– the data published in the 2009 report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA);
– the European Parliament resolution of 25 November 2009 on the Stockholm Programme (P7_TA(2009)0090);
– the fact that the polydrug use of psychoactive substances, particularly among young people, is on the increase and there are currently various forms of addiction that are comparable to that of drugs (e.g. food, smoke, alcohol, gambling, the internet, Facebook, shopping), that are equally harmful to human health and which it is vital to tackle in order to take effective, specific action to prevent and combat the problem;
– the current EU drugs strategy, due to expire in 2012, which needs to be swiftly updated by means of a stronger governance of dependencies;
– the fact that prevention and rehabilitation policy, particularly with regard to drugs, should be coordinated with the risk limitation and damage reduction policy;
– the need for an information circulation system to be set up between the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the Commission, Europol, the EMCDDA and the Member States, to be regularly assessed, with a view to making the required action more uniform;
given also that throughout Europe there are now specialist centres which manage polydrug use, with the direct involvement of professionals, consumers and civil society, to the patients' benefit, can the Commission say whether:

1. it would be possible to draw up a new 'Anti-addiction strategy' 2013-2020 which takes a multidisciplinary approach to all dependency-related issues;

2. it will adopt new measures to combat and prevent addiction and to rehabilitate those affected, especially drug users;

3. it will take action to strengthen cooperation with the relevant ministers of the Member States, the regions and civil society in order to gain a better understanding of addiction, with a view to targeting its future measures;

4. it will introduce new prevention and rehabilitation criteria which, over and beyond mere damage reduction policies, consider the well-being of the person and provide comprehensive care?

E-2702/10EN Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

1. In December 2008 the Council adopted the EU Drugs Action Plan 2009-2012. This is the second Action Plan implementing the EU Drugs Strategy 2005-2012. In 2012, an independent evaluation of the implementation of the Drugs Strategy and current Drugs Action Plan will be conducted which should provide food for thought for reflection on achievements and challenges. On the basis of this evaluation and reflection, the Commission will present a proposal for a future EU drugs policy.

The contents of such a new policy will be the subject of debate in the next two years, both in relation of the ongoing activities related to the implementation of the current EU Drugs Action Plan, a process which will lead to the identification of new challenges, but also in relation to emerging trends and developments in drug demand and drug supply in the EU. As the Parliament seems to be willing to play an active role in this debate, its support and involvement would be of a great help in identifying these new challenges.

The question whether the future revision of drugs policy will include a more holistic approach to addiction will at least partly depend on the developments in the Member States in this field. An increasing number of Member States address substance use from a broader perspective, including alcohol and other licit substance use and – for example – mental health problems in national prevention and treatment policies.

At the same time, the Commission is already supporting a more holistic approach in e.g. addiction research. The Socioeconomic Science and Humanities Programme of the 7th RTD Framework Programme is about to fund a project of at least EUR 8 million which aims to identify the state-of-play in the field of addiction, targeting not only licit and illicit substance addiction but also gambling, medicines addiction, etc.

2. The UE drugs policy is based on the existing legal basis provided by the TFEU which states that "The Union shall complement the Member States' action reducing drug-related health damage including training and prevention (Art 168 (1) TFEU)". In practice, this entails that the Member States are competent in provided drug demand reduction services to Member States and that the Union may provide a complementary role in supporting the improvement and exchange of know-how, experience and best-practice.

3. The evaluation of the EU Drugs Action Plan 2005-2008 suggests that coordination of drug policies in Member States tends towards convergence of policies, which allows for greater coherence and exchange of best-practices. The evaluation also showed that in most Member States the inclusion of civil society organisations in the development, implementation and evaluation of drugs policy is common practice, even albeit in different formats and gradations. The current EU Drugs Strategy and EU Drugs Action Plans place a strong emphasis on creating a better understanding of the drugs problem and the responses to it, among others through the identification and formulation of EU minimum quality standards and benchmarks in the field of drug demand reduction. The future EU drugs policy will benefit from the findings of this work.

4. Taking into account the EU competence limitations in the field of drug policy as defined by the TFEU, future drugs policy may further support the development of best-practices and quality standards. For example quality standards and benchmarks could be proposed regarding drug demand reduction (prevention, treatment, harm reduction and rehabilitation), with the aim to raise the overall level of quality in services in the EU.