On Tuesday 24 October, the European Parliament in Strasbourg endorsed new rules on combatting drug addiction that will enable the EU to take faster action against legal highs (new psychoactive substances used in place of ecstasy and cocaine).
"We’ve been working on this issue for five years, which I feel is shameful because we should have reacted much faster", said Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio (EPP, Spain), one of the rapporteurs on the issue, in a debate on 23 October.
The vote follows an interinstitutional agreement reached between Council of the EU and European Parliament in May (see EUROPE 11797), following several years of negotiations (see EUROPE 11063) on the draft rules initially unveiled by the European Commission in September 2013 (see EUROPE 10923). A new, more targeted proposal was unveiled in August 2016.
The updated legislation adopted by MEPs rationalises the procedure for assessing the potential negative side effects of a new psychoactive substance and deciding whether to ban it. The new rules reduce from 12 to 6 months the time for member states to introduce the decision taken at EU level into their national system.
Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said during the debate that they were demonstrating again that Europe is not just facts and figures but can also have a social aspect. He said the Commissions was committed to fighting drug addiction.
The amendments to the regulation setting up the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) were passed by a wide majority (609 to 19 with 29 abstentions) whilst the amended directive, which was already in its second reading, was passed without a vote.
EU member states now have 12 months to incorporate the changes to the directive into their national legislation. The updated regulation will apply from the end of this transposition period.
In parallel to the vote, the EMCDDA published its first European guide to the health and social measures to be set up to deal with drug problems linked to the diversity of drugs consumed, groups and environments. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)