The Horizontal Working Party on Drugs (HDG) was established in 1997 and is responsible for leading and managing the Council's work on drugs. It performs both legislative and general policy work in two main areas: drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction. This work is focused on three cross-cutting themes: coordination, international cooperation, and research, monitoring and evaluation. 

The working party cooperates with EU agencies such as the European Union Dugs Agency (EUDA) and Europol (European Law Enforcement Agency) as well as with international organisations and with non-EU countries.

The main goals of the working party:

• preparation of drug strategies, EU action plans and other relevant documents in the field of drugs
• information exchange on national drug policies and drug-related issues among member states and with countries outside the EU
• coordination of actions taken by the member states in the EU and abroad

See information about past and upcoming meetings of the HDG on the webpage.