WRITTEN QUESTION E-1275/98

by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Commission

(29 April 1998)

Subject: Differences between drugs policies

Very substantial differences exist between the drugs policies of the individual Member States. However, there have been repeated moves towards finding a common European approach in this area.

1. Does the Commission have the findings of investigations and detailed statistics on drugs consumption, drugs dependency and drugs-related crimes in the individual Member States?

2. Does it have any data showing the success or failure of changes in the drugs policies in the individual Member States?

3. Does it have any data showing that the drugs routes have changed following the enlargement to the East?

4. What information and statistical data does it possess about drugs consumption, drugs trafficking and drugs-related crimes in the candidate countries for accession?

5. Does it have any information which it could make available on punishments imposed in the case of drugs-related crimes in the individual Member States and in the candidate countries?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 1998)

1. and 2. The Commission wishes to draw the Honourable Member's attention to the terms of reference and the work of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Emcdaa) (Council Regulation (EEC) 302/93 of 8 February 1993(1)) designed to provide the Community and the Member States with objective, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs and drug addiction and their consequences. A summary of this work is presented in the Emcdaa's annual reports on the state of the drug problem.

These reports notably include an analysis of national strategies to combat drugs which highlight new trends and policy developments. The 1997 report also contains an analysis of public expenditure on combating drugs and the social costs of drug addiction. Finally, the question of evaluating prevention practices, and the associated policy orientations, is addressed both from the methodological and practical angle in the Observatory's work programmes and the Community action programme to prevent drug dependence within the framework of public health (Decision 102/97/EC of the Parliament and Council of 16 December 1996(2)).

3. As far as data on the drugs routes are concerned, useful information comes from Europol reports. Besides its annual report, the Europol drugs unit has prepared a strategic report on drug trafficking in South-eastern and Central Europe and the activities and structure of the Turkish criminal organisations in the Union, which will provide the basis for more effective operational cooperation between drug law enforcement services of the Member States.

4. In the framework of the Phare multi-beneficiary drugs programme information is being collected on the situation in the candidate countries for accession. Recent Phare expert reports have been established on the drug abuse situation, the drug demand reduction policies and structures in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) and on the situation in the field of synthetic drugs. Additional information is collected in the framework of each Phare project, and country fiches are established which include data provided by the CEEC's. The United Nations international drug control programme (UNDCP) country profiles are also useful.

Furthermore, in the framework of this programme, specific attention is paid to the further development of cooperation between CEEC's, especially the candidate countries, and the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction (Emcdda) including active participation in the Emcdda-European information network on drugs and drug addiction (Reitox) activities. In the 1998 annual report of the Emcdda, a special chapter will be devoted to the situation regarding the CEECs.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's interest in learning more about enforcement of anti-drug criminal legislation in the Member States. To this end in 1995 and 1996 the Commission, in cooperation with the Parliament and the Council Presidency, organised conferences and seminars to study the criminal legislation in the Member States and its enforcement in practice. These studies were based notably on a Commission-funded study on the differences in anti-drugs legislation in the Member States. The conclusions, as well as the comparative report, were widely circulated and have been sent directly to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat-General of the Parliament. Besides, a study containing a comparable analysis of the legal and institutional framework for the candidate countries is ongoing in the framework of the Phare multi-beneficiary drugs programme.

(1) OJ L 36, 12.2.1993.

(2) OJ L 19, 22.1.1997.