Europe Day exhibition tent
The EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) will be hosting an exhibition stand during upcoming Europe Day celebrations in Lisbon from 7–9 May. This year the focus of events will be on young people, in the context of the EU flagship campaign ‘Youth on the move’. The stand will be located in the Europe Day exhibition tent at Praça do Rossio, where staff members will be meeting the public and talking about their work.
The initiative is organised by the representation of the European Commission in Portugal, in partnership with the European Parliament office in Portugal, the Presidency of the European Union (Hungary) and the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Concerts, debates, workshops and theatre will be among the attractions.
On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman issued a declaration calling on France, Germany and other European countries to pool together their coal and steel production as ‘the first concrete foundation of a European federation’. This was the first move towards what would eventually become the European Union. Today, 9 May has become a symbol of the European project.
‘Statistics show that around one in three young Europeans has tried an illicit drug and that young people are confronted with an increasingly wide range of psychoactive substances’, said EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz in the run-up to the exhibition this weekend. ‘It is more important than ever that Europe has a central reference point on drugs to ensure that our responses are effective and based on sound evidence. We look forward to presenting to a young audience at this event some of the results of our work’.
The EMCDDA is one of over 30 decentralised agencies located throughout the EU (see below). Established in 1993 and based in Lisbon, it is the hub of drug-related information in Europe. The agency provides the EU and its Member States with a factual overview of European drug problems to support the drugs debate. It consists of a 100-strong team in Lisbon, from some 20 countries, and coordinates and relies on a network of 30 national monitoring centres across Europe (Reitox) to gather and analyse country data.
1st EU agencies’ football cup 2011 and charity donation
From Helsinki to Crete and from Lisbon to Vilnius, specialised European agencies have been established to provide services, information, know-how and advice to the European Union, its Member States and citizens. The EU agencies are involved in many and varied activities: improving health, safety and the environment; safeguarding freedom, justice and security; supporting education, business and innovation; and developing transport and satellite infrastructure.
In the context of this year’s Europe Day celebrations, the two Lisbon-based EU agencies — the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) — are organising on 8 May the 1st EU agencies’ football cup at St Julian’s School, Carcavelos (www.stjulians.com). Eleven EU agencies (male teams) as well as the European Central Bank (female team) will be participating in the tournament.
In addition to training for the event, the players have also been fundraising for Adroana, a local social housing community in Alcabideche, near Cascais. The money raised will be donated to the project ’12 Dias Diferentes na Adroana’ (12 Different Days for Adroana), which will offer summer activities to around 50 disadvantaged children and teenagers from this community.
‘We are proud to support the work of this valuable project’, says EMCDDA organiser of the tournament Danilo Ballotta. ‘Most of the children’s parents work long hours and the children are left unattended for most of the holiday period. These summer activities are designed to help them make a positive and healthy use of their free time and foster the values of respect, social support and racial and cultural diversity’.
‘Today some 150 colleagues from across Europe have come to the tournament to celebrate Europe Day’, he adds. ‘We hope, not only to play good football, but also to contribute to a better future for these young people’.
At the end of the tournament, the agencies will present a cheque to the project at the St Julian’s School playing fields.
