The EMCDDA has published today its Single Programming Document (SPD) for the period 2017–19, which includes the 2017 work programme (1). Adopted by the agency’s Management Board in December, this is the first work programme to be implemented under the new EMCDDA Strategy 2025 and follows a comprehensive consultation with the agency’s key stakeholders and partners (2).
The document reflects the agency’s focus on becoming a valuable and reliable service–provider to its customers, particularly policymakers within the EU institutions and the Member States. In 2017–19, the agency will contribute to a healthier and more secure Europe, placing greater emphasis on knowledge transfer, strategic analysis and threat assessment.
Among the key EMCDDA outputs this year will be European Drug Report 2017: Trends and Developments information package, complemented for the first time by 30 graphic-rich Country Drug Reports, developed with the Reitox national focal points. The first European Drug Responses Report will follow in the autumn, providing a state‑of‑the‑art overview of responses to drug use and related problems across the EU as well as implications for action.
EMCDDA outputs are based on data collected through a complex European monitoring system. In 2017, the agency will aim to strike the right balance between maintaining and improving its core monitoring tasks and developing novel approaches needed to keep pace with new developments.
A regulation on new psychoactive substances is expected to enter into force during the year, which will involve adjusting reporting and monitoring tools related to the EU Early Warning System and related risk assessment exercises. Two new technical assistance projects with third countries are also expected to kick off in 2017.
