Summary
This is call to action from the European Union Drugs Agency was delivered by the EUDA Executive Director, Alexis Goosdeel, at the European Parliament, LIBE Committee meeting on 30 September 2024.Download as PDF
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New synthetic opioids: European preparedness and response
To be delivered by the EUDA Executive Director, Alexis Goosdeel, at the European Parliament, LIBE Committee meeting on 30 September 2024
Director of the European Union Drugs Agency – the EUDA
I am today launching a Call to action to EU partners and Member States on preparedness for, and response to, new synthetic opioids.
I am calling on all EU partners and Member States to join us to act now, to ensure that Europe is as well prepared as possible to face future cross-border health and security threats to our region.
I would like to draw your attention to the following important emerging threats:
- Signals are emerging that Europe’s heroin supply may be disrupted as a consequence of the opium ban in Afghanistan, introduced by the Taliban in 2022. We are concerned that gaps in the market may be filled by other drugs, including potent synthetic opioids.
- In parallel, we are seeing signs that new synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, are becoming more available in parts of Europe. The mis-selling or adulteration of established opioids with these potent substances may also be increasing. This raises the risk of intoxication, overdose and possible outbreaks.
These conditions create the potential for a perfect storm. We only need to look to North America to see what can happen if we fail to act. How the spread of synthetic opioids can devastate communities and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths. While the situation in Europe is currently very different from the United States, and despite the difference in scale, we are growing concerned that highly potent synthetic opioids are increasingly appearing on the European drug market and are causing harm. Moreover, the North American context clearly reminds us how negative consequences of opioid use can develop, with dramatic implications for public health.
I believe that we run a very real risk of remaining complacent, and assuming that the systems and services we currently provide are adequate and that they will protect us.
Although we are not yet fully prepared, neither are we starting from scratch in this endeavour. Many of us have already been focusing on our responses, both at European and national level. Our EU Early Warning System (EWS) has been operating at the highest level for over 25 years, with regular risk assessments of new psychoactive substances (NPS), including new synthetic opioids. Our monitoring systems and rapid studies have repeatedly reported on Europe’s opioid market. Our flagship reports and rapid assessment studies have warned, and made recommendations, on emerging challenges and how we can address them.
Now strengthened by our new mandate, we are engaged in building innovative EU-wide drug alert and threat assessment services, and cooperating with Member States to establish a new network of laboratories. We are providing support to countries that are already deep in preparations, whether this be through planning and resilience building, developing new data collections, creating overdose alert networks or drawing up preparedness strategies.
Preparedness is necessarily a joined-up endeavour. EU countries face similar threats, and we need to act together if we are to succeed. Support from the European Commission and our partner agencies, including Europol, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is essential to help ensure that Europe is fully prepared to face new threats — whether these threats are linked to new substances, outbreaks in harms and deaths, or market disruptions. We call on, and will seek to engage strongly with, our Reitox network of national focal points, our expert networks and our civil society colleagues to ensure our countries remain resilient.
We need to be vigilant and prepared because of the potentially significant threats we face. Our new EUDA service model underpins this Call for action, whereby we are committed to Anticipate, Alert, Respond and Learn. Nowhere is this more important than in the field of new synthetic opioids. We invite you to join us….
- Together we need to anticipate future drug-related challenges and their consequences.
- Together we need to alert in real-time on new drug risks and threats to health and security.
- Together we need to strengthen our responses to the threats identified and act on them.
- And, in doing so, together we will increase EU-wide information exchange and learning on evidence-based policies and actions.
As you see, we are anticipating tomorrow and acting today!
