Evidence-based interventions, best practices and awareness raising
1. The Agency shall develop and promote evidence-based interventions and best practices with regard to, and raise awareness about, the adverse effects of drugs, prevention, treatment, care, risk and harm reduction, rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery. Where relevant, the Agency shall take a gender-sensitive approach and take into account the age dimension. Evidence-based interventions, best practices and awareness raising activities may be adapted to the national context and implemented at national level and, whenever necessary, be targeted to specific groups.
2. Evidence-based interventions, best practices and awareness raising activities referred to in paragraph 1 shall be in accordance with human rights norms and the political orientation set out in the applicable Union drug-related strategic documents.
3. The Agency shall promote the implementation of existing quality standards for drug prevention and update them as appropriate. The Agency shall provide or support training pursuant to Article 19. The Agency shall develop, where appropriate, quality standards for risk and harm reduction, treatment, recovery, care and rehabilitation.
4. The Agency may offer support to Member States and shall, subject to their prior agreement, assist them in developing national interventions in the area of its mandate.
Assessment scheme for national measures
1. At the request of a national authority of a participating country, the Agency shall assess national measures in accordance with the standard operating protocol provided for in paragraph 3.
2. Before assessing a national measure, the Agency shall evaluate it and analyse whether it complies with the latest scientific state of play and whether it has proven useful in addressing its declared objectives.
3. The Agency shall develop an assessment procedure. The Agency shall set out the assessment procedure in a transparent way in a standard operating protocol. The Management Board shall approve the standard operating protocol and any changes to it before the Agency applies it.
4. The Agency shall regularly inform the Management Board of the assessments it has undertaken pursuant to this Article.
Support to Member States
1. At the request of a Member State, the Agency may support the independent evaluation of its drug policies and the development of evidence-based drug policies in accordance with the applicable Union drug-related strategic documents.
2. The Agency may offer support to Member States and shall, subject to their prior agreement, assist them in implementing their national drug policies, quality standards, best practices and innovative approaches. The Agency shall facilitate the exchange of information, including on relevant law and best practices, between national authorities and experts.
3. When it supports the evaluation of drugs policies, the Agency shall act independently and shall be guided by its scientific standards and an evidence-based approach.
Training
The Agency shall, within the scope of its mandate and in coordination with other Union bodies, offices and agencies:
(a)
provide specialised training and curricula in areas of Union interest and relevance;
(b)
provide training-related tools and support systems to facilitate Union-wide knowledge exchange;
(c)
assist Member States in organising training and capacity-building initiatives.
International cooperation and technical assistance
1. The Agency shall:
(a)
develop an international cooperation framework, to be approved by the Management Board subject to the prior approval of the Commission, which shall guide the activities of the Agency in the area of international cooperation;
(b)
cooperate actively with the organisations and bodies referred to in Article 53(1);
(c)
support the exchange and dissemination of Union best practices and implementable research results at international level;
(d)
monitor developments of the international drugs phenomenon that might pose a threat to or have implications for the Union through the monitoring and analysis of information available from international bodies, national authorities, research findings and other relevant information sources;
(e)
provide data and analysis on the European drug situation in appropriate international meetings and technical fora, in close coordination with the Commission, and support the Commission and the Member States in international drugs dialogues;
(f)
promote the incorporation of all relevant data on drugs covered by this Regulation and collected in the Member States or emanating from the Union into international monitoring and drug-control programmes, particularly those established by the United Nations and its specialised agencies, without prejudice to Member States’ obligations with regard to the transmission of information under the United Nations Drug Conventions;
(g)
support the Member States in reporting the relevant information and providing the required analysis to the United Nations system, including the submission of all relevant data related to new psychoactive substances to the UNODC and the World Health Organization;
(h)
support third countries, in particular candidate countries, in developing their drug policies in accordance with the principles set out in the applicable Union drug-related strategic documents, including by providing support to the independent evaluation of their policies, and encourage those third countries to support the participation and involvement of civil society in the development, implementation and evaluation of drug policies.
2. The international cooperation framework referred to in paragraph 1, point (a), shall seek to further strengthen and support third countries’ efforts to address drug issues in an evidence-based, integrated, balanced and multidisciplinary manner and in full compliance with human rights norms. That international cooperation framework shall take into account the relevant policy documents of the Union and consider the developments of the drugs phenomenon. It shall set out the priority countries or regions for cooperation and the key outcomes of the cooperation. It shall take into account the experiences of and activities undertaken by the Member States. The Agency shall evaluate and review the international cooperation framework regularly.
3. The Agency shall transfer, at the request of the Commission and subject to the approval of the Management Board, its expertise and provide technical assistance to third countries, in particular candidate countries, in accordance with the international cooperation framework referred to in paragraph 1, point (a).
Technical assistance shall focus, in particular, on setting up or consolidating national focal points, national data collection systems and national early warning systems and on the promotion of best practices in the fields of prevention, treatment, care, risk and harm reduction, rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery, and subsequently assist in the creation and strengthening of structural links with the early warning system referred to in Article 8 and the Reitox network. The Agency may assess the national bodies of a third country where that third country so requests.
4. The Agency shall cooperate with international organisations and with third countries in accordance with Articles 53 and 54.
Research and innovation
1. The Agency shall assist the Commission and the Member States in identifying key research themes and in drawing up and implementing the Union framework programmes for research and innovation activities that are relevant to achieve its general and specific tasks set out in Articles 4 and 5, respectively. The Agency shall pay due attention to intersectionality as a crosscutting principle in its research-related activities. Where the Agency assists the Commission in identifying key research themes or in drawing up and implementing a Union framework programme, the Agency shall not receive funding from that programme.
2. The Agency shall proactively monitor and contribute to research and innovation activities to achieve its general and specific tasks set out in Articles 4 and 5, respectively, support related activities of Member States, and implement its research and innovation activities regarding matters covered by this Regulation, including the development, training, testing and validation of algorithms for the development of tools. The Agency shall disseminate the results of such research and innovation activities to the European Parliament, the Member States and the Commission in accordance with the security rules provided for in Article 49.
3. The Agency shall contribute to and participate in the activities carried out in the framework of the research and innovation cycle, such as the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security and the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, established by the Commission Decision of 16 September 2021 ( 26 ) .
4. The Agency may plan and implement pilot projects regarding matters covered by this Regulation.
5. The Agency shall take all necessary measures to avoid conflicts of interest in the implementation of the pilot projects referred to in paragraph 4. It shall make public information on its research projects, including demonstration projects. Such information shall include the cooperation partners involved and the project budget.
6. The Agency shall create a database to store, analyse and make available drug-related research programmes.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
