The International Cooperation Framework (ICF) defines the agency’s vision and priorities for enhancing global collaboration on drug-related challenges. It follows the EUDA being given a stronger international role when it replaced the EMCDDA in July 2024 ⁽¹⁾. This new role strengthens the agency’s capacity to monitor and analyse the external dimension of the drugs problem and increase EU preparedness on drugs.

Responding to a global challenge
Drugs are a transnational phenomenon, affecting communities worldwide and posing challenges to public health and security. Illegal drug flows are increasingly complex, with drugs and key chemical precursors being manufactured and transported across regions, often by transnational criminal organisations. Ongoing wars and conflicts have also had repercussions on drug use and trafficking, including in EU neighbouring countries. The ICF was designed to respond to these realities, drawing on the EMCDDA’s history of international cooperation (timeline).

A partnership-based approach
Reciprocal partnerships are at the heart of the ICF. Working with the European Commission, the EUDA will engage with:

• partner countries (e.g. EU enlargement and neighbourhood countries and countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Central Asia and North America);
• EU institutions, bodies and agencies;
• international organisations and development agencies; and
• civil society and scientific communities outside the EU.

Cooperation will take various forms, including working arrangements, technical cooperation projects, expert meetings and collaboration with international research networks.

Strengthening knowledge and practice
Sharing evidence and disseminating best practice at international level fosters innovation and reinforces responses to cross-border health and security threats. The EUDA will strengthen its knowledge exchange with third countries on the evolution of the drug market and the implications of international drug-related developments for public health and security in the EU. It will also produce geostrategic analyses, promote evidence- and human rights-based drug policy in third countries, and support the EU and its Member States in international dialogues.

The ICF sets out four strategic objectives:

1. monitor global drug developments which may pose a threat to, or have implications for, the EU.
2. cooperate closely with EU and international partners on external drug threats with implications for health, security and social resilience within the EU.
3. support the mutual exchange and dissemination of best practices and implementable research findings at international level.
4. develop technical cooperation with international partners and promote the incorporation of EU relevant data into international monitoring and drug programmes.

Turning principles into action
Implementation will be guided by the principles of added value, sustainability, feasibility, co-production, synergies and service orientation, aligned with the EU Drugs Strategy 2021–2025 and wider EU policies. Building on this foundation, the ICF will prioritise: enhancing the EU’s preparedness on drugs and its contribution to international monitoring; strengthening national drug observatories and early-warning systems; addressing drug production and trafficking (including of precursors and new psychoactive substances); and advancing innovation in treatment, reintegration and harm reduction.

A strong international partner
Through the ICF, the EUDA aims to reinforce its role as the EU’s lead body on drugs and as a strong international partner. By improving evidence, building capacity and promoting cooperation, the agency seeks to support more effective and sustainable responses worldwide.

EUDA Executive Director Alexis Goosdeel says: ‘The global nature of the drugs phenomenon requires global solutions. With this new framework, we are reaffirming our commitment to working hand in hand with partners across the world to strengthen our preparedness to deal with new challenges and address new threats. To do so, we will anticipate risks, share knowledge and build healthier and more secure communities.

Notes
(1) In order to address increasingly global drug challenges, the EUDA mandate (see regulation Article 20) strengthened international cooperation as a core task and requested the agency to adopt a new International Cooperation Framework (ICF). This is the third ICF developed by the agency (2007, 2018).