The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice . The Treaty also provides legal bases for EU action in internal and external affairs. A global strategy In the interests of a global approach to the problem, multiannual plans have been adopted since 1990. The European Union's drug prevention strategy for the period 2000-2004 was adopted by the Council on 6 December 1999 and approved by the Helsinki European Council on 10 and 11 December. It gives priority to the fight against drugs both within the European Union and at the level of EU external policy, with the main objective being to reduce demand and supply.
Provision is made for the exchange of reliable data and increased international cooperation.
In financial terms, over 65 million was spent on drug prevention in 1998, of which 35 million on measures to support work in non-member countries. The EU will continue its financial efforts along these lines. For the purposes of data collection, the European Union relies on the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction , which was set up in Lisbon in 1995 and works with Europol to collect, analyse and disseminate objective and reliable data. It has been instrumental in improving the collection of comparable data throughout the European Union and will continue to work in this area, in an effort to increase the volume of information gathered. Article 31 of the Treaty on European Union, as amended by the Amsterdam Treaty, provides for the harmonisation of criminal law on drug trafficking.