As part of the response to new psychoactive substances within the European Union (EU), the Council Decision 2005/387/JHA of 10 May 2005 on the information exchange, risk assessment and control of new psychoactive substances (hereafter 'the Council Decision') established a mechanism for the rapid exchange of information on substances that may pose public health and social threats, including the involvement of organised crime. This provides a legal basis for the institutions of the EU and the Member States to monitor all new narcotic and psychotropic substances that appear on the European drug scene. Where necessary, the Council Decision also provides for an assessment of the risks associated with these new substances, so that control measures deriving from Member States' obligations to the United Nations drug control conventions (1) can also be applied to new psychoactive substances.

Under Article 4 of the Council Decision, the EMCDDA and Europol, in close collaboration with their respective expert networks, the Reitox National Focal Points and Europol National Units, are assigned a central role in detecting, notifying and monitoring new psychoactive substances. The information exchange element of the Council Decision has been implemented by the EMCDDA and Europol as the European Union Early Warning System on New Psychoactive Substances (hereafter ‘Early Warning System'). In addition, where necessary, and in cooperation with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EMCDDA and Europol may collect, analyse and present information on a new psychoactive substance in the form of a Joint Report (Article 5). This report provides evidence to the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on the need to request a risk assessment on a new psychoactive substance. Such a risk assessment examines the health and social risks posed by a new substance including: the use of, manufacture of, and, traffic in, a new psychoactive substance; the involvement of organised crime; and, the possible consequences of control measures. In order to conduct the risk assessment, the EMCDDA convenes a special meeting under the auspices of its Scientific Committee, extended with additional experts as necessary (Article 6).

To ensure transparency in the implementation of the Council Decision, Article 10 stipulates that:
'The EMCDDA and Europol shall report annually to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the implementation of this Decision. The report will take into account all aspects required for an assessment of the efficacy and achievements of the system created by this Decision. The report shall, in particular, include experience relating to coordination between the system set out in this Decision and the Pharmacovigilance system'.’

In compliance with Article 10, the EMCDDA and Europol herewith present the eighth such annual report which covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2013. The report outlines the results of the implementation, describes key issues arising from accumulated experiences, and also serves as a monitoring tool. In order to facilitate the reading of the report, the reader is referred to the full text of the Council Decision (2).

The report is written as a standalone document. Annex provides the list of new psychoactive substances notified for the first time in 2013. This includes the systematic chemical name, the reporting country, and date of notification for each substance. Further information on these substances is available from the EMCDDA and Europol.