WRITTEN QUESTION E-0315/03 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Data analyses of illegal drugs in EU.
Date: 2003-02-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, data processing, drug addiction, epidemiology, medical data, research method

C 51 E/18

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

26.2.2004

(2004/C 51 E/019)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0315/03

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 February 2003)

Subject: Data analyses of illegal drugs in EU

What efforts is the Commission making to secure common definitions and routines concerning data
collection and analyses regarding the use of illegal drugs in Member States?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2003)

The Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), one of 12
decentralised European Community agencies was set up in 1993 to provide the Community and its
Member States with ‘objective, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs
and drug addiction and their consequences’.

Various methods and tools are employed to assess the drug situation across the Union.

The EMCDDA has defined five key epidemiological
comparable data:

indicators for the collection and interpretation of

(cid:1) prevalence and patterns of drug use among the general population;

(cid:1) prevalence and patterns of problem drug use;

(cid:1) drug-related infectious diseases;

(cid:1) drug-related deaths and mortality of drug users;

(cid:1) demand for drug treatment.

Qualitative research focuses on the meanings, perceptions, processes and contexts of the ‘world of drugs’
and offers ways of understanding drug-use patterns and responses. The EMCDDA manages a network and
a database on qualitative research in Europe. It aims at making qualitative drugs research accessible to
researchers, Reitox National Focal Points, national experts, commentators on drug policy and interventions
and students.

Modelling involves using mathematical formulae or computer programmes to construct a simplified model
of a process. The end result can be a useful model to investigate different outcomes under different
circumstances or interventions or a ‘best estimate’ of future developments in the spread of drug use or a
drug-related infectious disease, such as hepatitis C.

The EMCDDA works in this area with key partners at three different levels:

(cid:1) The EMCDDA collects information through the Reitox network, which has national Focal Points in all

15 Member States, in the Commission and in Norway.

(cid:1) The Reitox national

focal points collect epidemiological

information about drug use and its

consequences whilst working with the EMCDDA to improve the comparability of data.

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/19

(cid:1) The international scientific community works with the programme team to develop new methods for

studying drug use and for increasing in-depth scientific analysis.

(cid:1) National and international organisations work with the programme team to exchange information and

co-operate in research projects.

Work on drug-related deaths and on surveys on drug use is carried out in co-ordinated with Eurostat.

(2004/C 51 E/020)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0338/03

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 February 2003)

Subject: Europol’s role in identifying progress in the Candidate Countries’ efforts to tackle organised crime

Last June, the Commission published a report in which it pointed to weaknesses in the judicial and anti-
corruption systems in a number of Candidate Countries and suggested that there was a need to strengthen
administrative structures to handle the enormous sums of agricultural and regional aid which they will
receive following accession.

More generally, there is concern, even amongst those who favour Enlargement, that insufficient steps have
been taken within certain Candidate Countries to crack-down on organised crime, and, in particular, on
those involved in drug and people trafficking and in state corruption.

The European Parliament recognised this problem in its latest report on Enlargement adopted on
20 November of last year. Paragraph 6 of that report read as follows:

Continues to attach a high priority to combating corruption and to improving the transparency of
public spending; reiterates that it expects to receive a report from each candidate country and Europol
on corruption and organised crime, covering past and current actions and making firm commitments
as to how each country plans to fight corruption and organised crime in the future.

Does the Commission welcome the Parliament’s call for Europol to play a role in this process as well as
the Candidate Countries themselves, and, if so, does the Commission believe that it would be appropriate
for Europol to receive additional funding in order to fulfil that task effectively?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2003)

The Commission shares the view of
the Parliament concerning the high importance of combating
organized crime in general including drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and corruption. This
applies for the current Member States as well as for the future Member States.

In an effort to address the concerns raised by the Honourable Member and in particular to strengthen the
fight against organised crime, the Commission is considering that a Justice and Home Affairs chapter
should be included in the Third Cohesion Report and in the Structural Funds covering the 2007-2013
period. This would allow the co-financing under the Structural Funds of specific measures targeted at
preventing and/or reducing organised crime activities and general criminality. This would also allow
co-financing of measures designed to address border management issues in the enlarged Union.

More generally, the Commission has stressed repeatedly that it attaches the greatest importance to ensuring
that the Acceding and Candidate Countries reach an adequate level of administrative and judicial capacity
by the time of accession. The Commission is systematically monitoring the implementation of all
commitments that
including,
naturally, those concerning strengthening administrative and judicial capacity concerning the fight against
organised crime, corruption, drugs and trafficking in persons. Moreover, to help the Candidate Countries in

the Acceding Countries have made during the accession negotiations,