EU pushes against drugs with new Lisbon-based agency

EUDA officially started working this week in Portugal following a 2022 Commission proposal to beef up the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

“This will allow you [the agency] to do an even better job than you do today warning Europe of the dangers of drugs,” said Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs during the official launch of the agency in Lisbon.   

With worrying consumption statistics revealed in the European Drugs Report 2024, the EUDA will focus on strengthening drug preparedness in an increasingly intricate environment with “an increasingly complex drug phenomenon and the emergence of potent new substances”.    

The annual drugs report found that the EU market is now characterised by a wider range of substances, with serious implications for public health amid relative consumer and scientific ignorance.    

By the end of 2023, the EMCDDA monitored over 950 new psychoactive substances, 26 of which were identified for the first time in Europe that year.  

"The complex drug market makes any analysis, anticipation and adoption of responses more complex and challenging,” said EUDA’s executive director Alexs Goosdeel.   

He added that there are three main challenges on which the agency's work will focus - the recent increase of poly-drug use, drug-related violence and the introduction of new synthetic substances in the EU.     

The EUDA will introduce a new European Drug Alert System to issue warnings when a new drug appears on the market, and a European Threat Assessment System to help Member States anticipate drug-related challenges.    

The agency will also have a stronger international position, collaborating with other EU agencies like Europol and developing cooperation