Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of the Decision of the European Parliament and the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the specific programme “Drugs prevention and information” as part of the General programme “Fundamental Rights and Justice” for 2007-2013
Date: 2007-08-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, action programme, drug addiction, financing plan, health policy, public awareness campaign

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 31.8.2007 
COM(2007) 503 final 

2005/0037B (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of the Decision of 
the European Parliament and the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the 
specific programme “Drugs prevention and information” as part of the General 
programme “Fundamental Rights and Justice” for 2007-2013 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
2005/0037B (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of the Decision of 
the European Parliament and the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the 
specific programme “Drugs prevention and information” as part of the General 
programme “Fundamental Rights and Justice” for 2007-2013 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date  of  transmission  of  the  proposal  to  the  EP  and  the  Council
(document COM([2006])[230] final – [2005]/[037B]COD): 

May 

2006: 
24 
amended 
(proposal 
after 
the 
splitting 
"Fight against  violence 
and 
(Daphne 
“Drugs  prevention  and 
information” 
programmes) 

III)” 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

19 January 2006 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

14 December 2006 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

23 July 2007 

2. 

PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

Drugs prevention and information is a funding programme with the following objectives: 

a) 

to prevent and reduce drug use, dependence and drug-related harms; 

b) 

to contribute to improving information on drug use; 

c) 

to support implementation of the European strategy on drugs. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

The Council common position preserves the essence of the original Commission proposal and 
takes the European Parliament’s main amendments at first reading into account. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
The  differences  of  substance  between  the  common  position  and  the  original  Commission 
proposal are as follows: 

•  The "Daphne III" and "Drugs prevention and information" programmes are separated. This 
splitting was proposed by the Commission itself in its amended proposal of 26 May 2006. 

•  Article 3(a): addition of a specific objective that broadens the scope of the programme by 
providing that it can support measures intended to prevent drug consumption, in particular 
by  reducing  drug-related  harm  and  making  use  of  methods  of  treatment  based  on  latest 
scientific knowledge. 

•  Article 3(c) the involvement of  the  European  Parliament  in  the  process  of  evaluating  the 

Drugs Action Plans is emphasised. 

•  Article 4(b): a proposal for a specific project will be eligible for financing if it involves at 
least two Member States or one Member State and one acceding or applicant state (instead 
of three Member States, as originally proposed by the Commission). 

•  Article 6: women and parents are listed among the target groups of the programme. 

•  Article  9:  when  the  annual  work  programme  is  adopted,  the  expert  technical  opinion  of 

EMCDDA will be taken into account. 

•  Article  10:  comitology:  the  double  committee  principle  is  introduced  (management 
committee  for  the  adoption  of  the  annual  work  programme  and  advisory  committee  for 
other questions, whereas the original Commission proposal provided only for an advisory 
committee). 

The Council common position is based on a compromise between the European Parliament, 
the Council and the Commission. The compromise concerns the text as a whole, including the 
question of comitology. The Council common position takes over the solution negotiated by 
the  three  institutions  in  connection  with  the  "Civil  Justice"  programme  (COD/2005/0040), 
namely the inclusion of a recital concerning notification of the implementing measures to the 
European Parliament and a Commission declaration on the matter.  

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The Commission accepts the common position, which incorporates the main elements of its 
original proposal and the main amendments adopted by the European Parliament. 

EN 

3 

   EN