07/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/02/2024 13:28
Today, the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) officially starts work in Lisbon replacing the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The development is the result of legislation entering into application today, which revises the EMCDDA mandate and name and formally establishes the EUDA (1). With new tools and competencies, the EUDA will play a key role in strengthening the EU's response to emerging health and security challenges posed by illicit drugs.
Why a new agency? Following an external evaluation of the EMCDDA, the European Commission called for a broader and more proactive remit for the agency in January 2022 to help it address new challenges posed by an increasingly complex drug phenomenon and the emergence of potent new substances. The EU legislative process was concluded in June 2023, setting the EMCDDA on a one-year transition course to becoming the EUDA.
New services: The ultimate goal of the EUDA is to strengthen the European Union's preparedness on drugs. Its work will be organised around four inter-connected service categories:
New mechanisms: To ensure EU preparedness in the drugs field, new mechanisms have been created, including:
3 July: Official opening of the EUDA in the presence of European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson (press conference | inauguration). In the margins of the press conference, theEUDA will sign a Working Arrangement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, in the presence of the Commissioner. The agreement will be signed by EUDAExecutive Director Alexis Goosdeel and H.E. Ambassador Xavier Aliaga Sancho, Ambassador of Ecuador to the European Union.
4-5 July: Inaugural EUDA Management Board meeting (closed event).