UNGASS 2016 is a key opportunity for the international community to take stock of the achievements of the international drug control system to date, to elaborate on the immense challenges that remain in the global, national and local response to the world drug problem and to find feasible, operational and sustainable solutions for the longer term within the framework of the international treaties.

The EU and its Member States firmly believe that the UNGASS 2016 outcome document should be a concise, yet comprehensive document, providing action-oriented recommendations towards the goals set in the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action for 2019. The EU and its Member States believe that the outcome of UNGASS 2016 should be grounded on the following principles:

General Principles
1. Relying on decades of experience with drug policies based upon an integrated, balanced and evidence-based approach, the EU and its Member States emphasise that drug policies have proved to be most effective when they strike an appropriate balance, in a coordinated manner, between supply and demand reduction measures. A drugs policy which does not combine evidence-based and integrated demand reduction with targeted actions to restrict supply will neither address the objectives set out in the Political Declaration 2009 and Plan of Action for 2019 nor tackle the remaining challenges in dealing with the world drug problem.
2. We underline that drug policies should be built upon a sound public health approach, based on scientific evidence and supported by reliable and objective monitoring systems and evaluation, in compliance with human rights recognized as such by international legal instruments.