Brussels, 30/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament supports the adoption of a framework decision on the definition of and penalties for drug trafficking and proposes amendments to the text submitted by the Commission to Council. Last Thursday, MEPs approved by a large majority (372 to 23 with 71 abstentions) the report by Arie Oostlander (EPP, Netherlands), which calls for all revenue from fines or seizure to be used for prevention programmes, the reinsertion of drug users, and help to the families of drug users. The EP places emphasis on the importance of prosecuting drug trafficking via the Internet, and calls on Member States to work towards establishing minimum common norms for the rights of the accused in criminal proceedings. The plenary had rejected a first version of the Oostlander report early February (228 in favour, 247 against and 58 abstentions). The Socialists, the Greens and a majority of Liberals had voted against. In the meantime, the different political groups have reached compromise on the question of penalties and on attenuating circumstances. The European Parliament no longer requests, as proposed in the first report, that each Member State should be able to fix stricter penalties for serious cases. It proposes that the degree of gravity should be assessed using different elements, such as the volume of trafficking, its frequency, the type of narcotic concerned, and in relation to the risks for health or the amount of money made from such trafficking. The report calls on the Council to delete the article on attenuating circumstances as it considers it is the legislation of each Member State that should be followed. The first version of the report proposed greater detail should be given of attenuating circumstances.
The European Parliament is only consulted on this text which must be adopted by the Council. The Council has not yet given its opinion. The European Commission had proposed this decision almost one year ago (see EUROPE of 24 May 2001). It proposes the same legal definition of illicit drug trafficking in all Member States: "the act, without authorisation and irrespective of the medium of communication, of selling and marketing as well as, for profit, of cultivating, producing, manufacturing, importing, exporting, distributing, offering, transporting or sending or, for the purpose of transferring for profit, of receiving, acquiring and possessing drugs". It therefore suggests that the Fifteen should undertake to impose criminal penalties on both natural and legal persons and to fix, for the most serious cases, a maximum penalty of at least five years imprisonment and seven years in the event of aggravating circumstances. The Fifteen, who had held a public debate on drug trafficking in March 2001 (EUROPE of 17 March 2001, p.6) undertook at the Laeken Summit to adopt this proposal "before the end of May 2002".