Brussels, 25/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - Further to the Helsinki European Council's approval of the EU drug strategy for 2000-2004, the European Commission, Portuguese Council Presidency and the EP will be sponsoring, on Monday and Tuesday 28 and 29 February in Brussels (Charmemagne building), the Second Conference on Drug Policy in Europe.
Numerous individuals playing a key role in this area have been invited to participate in this meeting, whose principal objective is to build consensus on implementation of the strategy and its priorities for action, which should help the Council Presidency develop an action plan. The conference will be opened by Commissioner Vitorino and Mr Canas, Portuguese Secretary of State to the Presidency, and Mrs Giannakou-Koutsikou, EP rapporteur on the Commission communication on the EU action plan to combat drugs. It will feature four workshops: a) law and practice in the EU; b) prevention: reducing demand, reducing negative consequences of drug abuse, evaluation tools; c) prevention: reducing supply and trafficking, combating money laundering and controlling precursors; d) international cooperation.