EU’s role in drugs war must be strengthened, says agency

Date: 17/04/03

By Martin Banks

THE European Union should have shared powers with member states in the war against drugs consumption, says the director of an EU agency.

Georges Estievenart, of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, says the current EU approach to the problem is "uncoordinated" and "incoherent".

He wants the Convention on Europe's future to strengthen the Union's role by including an article in the constitutional treaty it is currently drafting, which grants the EU shared competence with the member states in the fight against drugs.

At present, the EU has a drugs 'action plan', but this does not have any legal force, and the Lisbon-based centre is, mostly, a drugs statistical-gathering agency, he says.

"I would like to see a specific clause included in the treaty to encourage a more integrated and global approach to the drug phenomenon," he said.

"In spite of the political will for a balanced approach to the problem, the legal context remains extremely complex and fragmented between the different EU countries.

"Each member state currently has its own, often quite divergent, drugs policy and there is no coherent EU approach. I am not suggesting the Union should have sole powers in the drugs field but a single framework might smooth the progress of an EU-wide action on drugs."

Estievenart also called for more coordinated sanctions against drug traffickers, adding: "At the very least, [the Union should have] some sort of agreement on the minimum sanctions for drug dealers."

He said improved action was urgently needed to halt the increasing drug problem in member states.

The agency is particularly concerned, he said, at drug use among young people, saying it was now "commonplace" among children as young as 12 in most EU states.

"This is one of our biggest concerns because we do not know what will happen to these 12-year-olds. Will they become addicted and create a whole new generation of drug users?" he asked.

The agency says that the average age of people injecting heroin has risen and that mixing drugs is becoming more commonplace.

Levels of drugs consumption are still "worryingly" high in the UK and Spain while they are lowest in France and Germany, he said. Drugs-related disease is a particular problem in Portugal.

A Convention spokesman said the 105-member forum was discussing the possibility of beefing up the EU's role in tackling drug trafficking but said any extension to the Union's powers in dealing with drug-related health issues was unlikely.

THE European Union should have shared powers with Member States in the war against drugs consumption, says Georges Estievenart, the director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.