This year sees the end of the EU’s current eight-year Drugs Strategy and second four-year action plan. In this report we look to see what the Strategy has achieved, and what should come next.

In general, we welcome the practical application by the EU of the principle of subsidiarity in this area. We agree with our witnesses that most aspects of drugs policies should remain within the competence of the Member States. The role of the EU should continue to be to complement, and where possible to strengthen and add value to, the actions of Member States. We also welcome the cooperation in this area between cities and across national boundaries, and call for this to be increased.

We believe that the European Drugs Strategy has been of value in providing a guiding framework within which Member States can formulate their national drug policies. In our view, however, previous aims of demand reduction and supply reduction have been too broadbrush to be useful as a guide to EU policy formulation: they should not therefore be treated as the main objectives of the next EU Strategy. Instead, we recommend that the new EU Drugs Strategy should be better focused and, while respecting the present division of competences, should seek to give a useful sense of direction to national policies.
We suggest that the next Strategy should concentrate on the areas where the EU can make a major contribution.