Mr. Chair, Your Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] and Georgia, the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as San Marino, align themselves with this statement.

As we gather today, we are witnessing conflict and violence in many parts of the world. The EU and its Member States call for the full respect for the UN Charter and International Law and International Humanitarian Law, whether in relation to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, or the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC and elsewhere. Such wars and conflicts create an environment that facilitates the illicit manufacture and trafficking of drugs and other related transnational organised crime and severely impact health care facilities, transport and supplies.

We also express deep concern regarding the dramatic escalation of drugs-related violence and attacks against public institutions, democracy and the rule of law in Ecuador and reiterate our solidarity with its government and its people. The surge of drug-related violence in other countries, including European ones, as well as in Central and Latin America also deserves our collective attention.

The EU and its Member States strongly and unequivocally oppose the use of the death penalty under all circumstances, including for drug-related offences.

The challenges posed by the world drug situation are increasing. Recent data on drug-related deaths, as well as on the production and trafficking of drugs and their consequences cause great concern. The latest World Drug Report tells us that over 128.000 people died in the world in 2019 due to drug use disorders, and that seizures of drugs, in particular cocaine, keep on growing, having gone up in the EU by more than 400% over ten years.

In particular, drug production and trafficking are at an all-time high and criminal groups and networks are becoming a bigger threat. The organised criminals’ activities are accompanied by acts of extreme violence, which do not only hit rival gang members but also innocent people, including children. Criminal networks are infiltrating society and use money laundering, corruption, and intimidation to expand their power and to attack our democratic institutions.

At the same time, the sharp rise of new psychoactive substances comes about with new health challenges, the production of drugs damages our environment, and we deeply regret the continuous unequal impact of the world drug situation on the most vulnerable individuals, families and populations. Still today, access to and availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes remains extremely low in many parts of the world, resulting in immense suffering for individuals, families and communities.

The EU and its Member States are convinced that the situation can be tackled in an effective and sustainable manner only through an evidence-based, integrated, balanced and multidisciplinary approach that upholds human rights. The three international drug control conventions, with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, international law, and in particular international human rights law, should remain cornerstones of international drug policy. We must continue and accelerate the implementation of all drug policy commitments, and in particular the commitments agreed upon in the UNGASS 2016 outcome document. Without a doubt, our common efforts should contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals set out for 2030. 

The EU Drugs Strategy and related Action Plan 2021-2025 set out the EU policy in this field. The European Commission will evaluate the implementation of our policies and actions in 2024 to guide the future EU drugs policy.

Meanwhile, we continue implementing many actions and cooperating at international level with key partners in all these areas to address the situation.

In response to the increasing challenges linked to organised crime and drug trafficking, the European Commission recently published an EU Roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime. Together with EU Member States, the Commission is undertaking several priority actions, such as the launch of a European Ports Alliance, ongoing efforts with all stakeholders to protect ports from criminal infiltration, more targeted actions against high-risk criminal networks, or increased efforts of crime prevention, including preventing the recruitment of young people into organised crime. Knowing that organised crime and drug trafficking have a worldwide reach, we will notably enhance our cooperation with countries and regions on main drug supply routes.

Furthermore, drug use is first and foremost a health issue. There is no single cause to drug use nor is there a single solution to address drug use disorders. Following the scientific evidence, the EU and its Member States are implementing policies encompassing activities in the areas of prevention, early detection and intervention, risk and harm reduction, treatment, rehabilitation, social integration and recovery. This includes the implementation of innovative services, such as online treatment, or developing community-based programmes and mobile services in order to reach the most vulnerable populations. Should we therefore be complacent? No. Drug health policies must constantly improve and respond to new health challenges and thus, by definition, be innovative.

Firstly, we have to protect the most vulnerable. As stated by Executive Director Waly in the latest UNODC report: ‘World drug problems may be global, but they do not affect all the world equally. It is the vulnerable, the poor and the excluded who pay the highest price’. Stigmatisation of people for their drug use is unacceptable and counterproductive and should therefore be tackled and eliminated.

Secondly, as policy makers, we must listen to civil society and people with lived experiences.

Thirdly, gender equality. Access to healthcare for women is more limited than for men and the stigma on women who use drugs is ever so hard, especially when they have children. At the same time, women are convicted proportionally more than men for drug-related offences.  Policies need to take into account these differences to be fair and effective.

Finally, data. The EU and its Member States underscore the essential role of collecting data, monitoring and scientific research. As from July this year, the current European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - EMCDDA - will become the European Drugs Agency (EUDA) with a reinforced mandate. We will improve our capacity to react to both current and future drug challenges by reinforcing the Agency’s monitoring, analytical, scientific capacities to identify a new developments and recommend appropriate responses. The Agency will continue to stand ready for exchanging data within the international community and share information research and good practices.

With a view to enhancing the implementation of all international drug policy commitments, and in addressing the challenges that the range of drugs and drugs markets are expanding and diversifying, I therefore pledge for the European Union to increase its preparedness and capacity to react to future developments by empowering its European Union Drug Agency to carry out proactive threat assessments and to develop a rapid European drug alert system complementary to our already existing Early Warning System that will contribute to safeguarding public health and security.  

Mr. Chair,

The challenges are many, and only jointly we can face them in a sustainable manner.

Thank you.

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.