Reitox network of national focal points
Reitox is the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) information network on drugs and drug addiction, created at the same time as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which became the EUDA in July 2, 2024, with an extended remit and stronger role.
Members of the network are designated national institutions or agencies responsible for data collection and reporting on drugs and drug addiction from all EU Member States, Norway, Türkiye and the European Commission.
These institutions are called national focal points, and directly contribute to the EUDA’s core task of collecting and reporting consistent, harmonised and standardised information on the drug phenomenon across Europe.
Learn more about each focal point using the map below, or scroll down this page to learn more about the Reitox network.
National focal points
More about the Reitox network
Regulation
The Regulation governing the EUDA’s work requires that each EU Member State or other country participating in the work of the Centre shall establish or designate one national focal point (NFP). This designated national focal point then becomes a member of the Reitox network, which currently includes each of the 27 EU Member States plus Norway, Türkiye and the European Commission.
The network’s main objective
The main objective of the Reitox network is described in the EUDA Regulation, which states that it shall “contribute to the Agency’s task of collecting and reporting consistent and standardised information on the drugs phenomenon across the Union”.
The members of the Reitox network link national drug information systems and are the main way in which the EUDA exchanges data and methodological information on drugs and drug addiction in Europe. As an information interface between the EUDA and national level stakeholders, the Reitox network:
- Provides the Agency and national stakeholders with the best, most reliable, comparable, recent and comprehensive information on the drug situation in their respective countries;
- Meets the specific information needs of decision-makers and practitioners working in the drugs field at European and national levels;
- Enhances the key role of evidence in European and national drug policies and responses, to further develop relevant methodologies and to represent the Agency at national level;
- Exchanges knowledge and expertise among Member States.
What are the functions of Reitox national focal points at European level?
The national focal points are key players in the Union’s drug monitoring and reporting system.
On an annual basis, each NFP collects and produces comparable and scientifically sound data and information on their national drug situation, which will feed into monitoring the situation across Europe. The NFPs also help improve data collection methodologies and tools, and develop relevant guidelines for their implementation.
In addition, the NFPs participate in the EU Early Warning System and report to the EUDA on new trends in the use of existing psychoactive substances and/or new consumption patterns involving combinations of psychoactive substances which pose a potential public health risk. Additionally, they identify new potential threats in the drugs field, alert the EUDA on newly identified substances, and are engaged in research projects in multiple drug related fields, including foresight, wastewater analysis or drug related emergency room admissions, among others.
In most cases the role of NFPs goes beyond their reporting obligations to the EUDA and they also produce information to fulfil their country’s reporting obligations to other supranational and international monitoring and drug-control programmes such as UNODC.
The EUDA also requests the technical support of NFPs in the production of its different products and publications in national languages. Finally, NFPs can also play a role in supporting the EUDA efforts to provide technical assistance to third countries, namely by sharing national and EU knowledge and methodologies in the framework of international cooperation projects managed by the Agency.
What are the functions of Reitox national focal points at national level?
In addition to the multiple tasks assigned to NFPs in relation to the Agency, many of which linked to the coordination of data collection, or the direct collection of data related to drugs and drug use, they have additional responsibilities at the national level, which vary according to the NFP itself. These may include preparing legal documents, national situation reports on drugs or drug use, conducting studies on drug related topics, and monitoring drug responses such as treatment, prevention or harm reduction at the country level.
Typically, NFPs also establish and coordinate a national network of stakeholders from all relevant areas of the drug phenomenon, including prevention, treatment, security, justice and health, among others. These networks report relevant data to the NFP on the multiple facets of the drug situation and responses, and in many cases it is this network that coordinates national responses to any threats or emergencies that arise.
Lastly, NFPs are also asked to disseminate knowledge and best practices produced at the European level, and relevant for national needs, to the extended community of professionals involved with drugs and drug addiction, as well as support dissemination of EUDA products and publications at the national level.
Reitox certification
The Reitox certification project is a process for formally acknowledging the competence of a National Focal Point (NFP) to carry out specific tasks in a reliable, credible and accurate manner. It confirms that the NFP meets the minimum criteria for fulfilling the tasks of an NFP, as set out in the EUDA regulation.
The purpose of the certification is, on the one hand, to increase the legitimacy of each NFP at national level by demonstrasting how well it is contributing to thte EUDA’s core tasks of collecting and reporting consistent, harmonised and standardised information on the drug phenomenon across Europe. On the other hand, it is to increase the degree of assurance at the European Union level that the NFPs are fulfilling their role as national interfaces with the EUDA.
Additional information may be found in the publication EMCDDA certification of the Reitox national focal points.
With the creation of the EUDA, and according to the Article 35 of the regulation that defines its mandate and tasks, the EUDA is required to assess all NFPs until July 2026, and regularly thereafter. This means that the current certification exercise will need to be revised, and the shift to the assessment methodology provides an opportunity to refine and update this process, and to ensure that the assessments focus on identifying areas of potential improvement, and where the Agency can support NFPs in further enhancing their capacity over time, even though a score for certification will be maintained.
