Message from EMCDDA Director, Alexis Goosdeel
The EMCDDA has published today its new Strategy 2025, which sets out an ambitious course of travel for the agency over the next decade. Our vision, and the ultimate goal of our journey, will be to contribute to a healthier and more secure Europe, through better informed drug policy and action.
Adopted by the agency’s Management Board in December, following the approval of the agency’s key stakeholders in 2016, the strategy is the result of a year‑long, in‑depth analysis of the environment in which the EMCDDA operates. This analysis focused, in particular, on customer needs and a critical review of our internal capacity to meet them.
This new, long‑term strategic framework will ensure, first and foremost, that the agency’s work continues to reflect the reality that Europe faces with respect to drug issues and the evolving needs of EMCDDA stakeholders. It will also ensure that the agency’s activities are supported by an internal business model which promotes appropriate and efficient working practices.
In making this commitment, we are mindful of the challenges ahead of us. These challenges however — be they political uncertainties facing the EU, the difficult economic climate or the increasingly innovative means employed by the interlinked European and global drug market — make us even more aware of the importance of the EMCDDA’s work.
Reflecting the multifaceted dimension of the drug phenomenon, the EMCDDA is in the privileged position to work with policymakers and practitioners, both from the health and law‑enforcement domains.
We have the means to provide them with the best evidence for their decisions, which affect European citizens, particularly those touched, directly or indirectly, by drug consumption and trafficking. In order to do so, we will continue to improve our monitoring system, enriching it with novel sources of data developed with established, or new, partners in Europe and beyond. Our analyses will gain in timeliness, relevance and complexity, and our means of disseminating knowledge will reflect the fast‑evolving communication technologies and channels of the modern world.
As professionals, and above all EU citizens, we aim for a healthier and more secure Europe. And we are convinced and proud that our work under this Strategy 2025 can make a clear contribution to achieving this goal. Having completed my first year as EMCDDA Director, I know that, along with my dedicated team, I can make this ambitious commitment to our stakeholders and to all Europeans who support our work.
