On Wednesday 14 January, five groups in the European Parliament (EPP, Renew Europe, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left) tabled a joint draft resolution calling for “ambitious” European action against drug trafficking.
Firstly, MEPs want to make the fight against drug trafficking a pillar of the European strategy for ports, by stepping up controls and protection for dockworkers and fishers. They also plan to tackle the “economic and financial structures of drug trafficking” by confiscating criminal assets more frequently and earmarking them for social purposes, in particular for the benefit of frontline territories and associations. Finally, the MEPs stressed the importance of protecting minors and prevention, and called for greater involvement of victims’ families in the development of anti-drug policies.
Although this initiative is taking place “against a backdrop of violence linked to drug trafficking”, it is mainly in response to the death of Mehdi Kessaci, aged 20, who was murdered in November 2025 in Marseille (France), and whose brother, Amine Kessaci, was a key figure in the citizen mobilisation against organised crime. Considering that the young man was “certainly murdered because of this family link”, the signatories of the resolution state that this tragedy constitutes “a direct attack on freedom of expression” and is a “method of intimidation reminiscent of the practices of organised mafia networks”.
In their text, MEPs describe drug trafficking as “one of the most serious threats to internal security”, with almost “50% of the most threatening criminal networks in Europe” involved in this type of activity. They point out that 752 tonnes of cannabis and 419 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2023, and that almost 7,500 drug-related deaths were recorded, illustrating, in their view, “a widespread phenomenon affecting all regions and social categories”.
Parallel resolutions. On the same day, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Patriots for Europe (PfE) groups published their respective draft resolutions on the same subject. The Patriots, for their part, equate drug trafficking with smuggling networks, claiming that “more than 90% of migrants entering the EU illegally” use drug trafficking groups. They propose to treat these cartels as “terrorist organisations” in order to facilitate the intelligence work of national authorities. They also call for better cooperation with the countries of origin of the drugs and sanctions against third countries that “refuse to cooperate” or “turn a blind eye” to trafficking and the financial flows it generates.
On 4 December 2025, the Commission also addressed the issue by presenting an EU Action Plan to combat drug trafficking (see EUROPE 13766/1).
To see the (EPP, Renew Europe, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left) joint resolution (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/k9n
The ECR resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/k9l
The PfE resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/k9m (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)