Evaluation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), 2018

Summary

The text below is extracted from the opening section of the evaluation report ("Context).

The human and social costs of drug addiction are very high. Drugs and drug addiction affect the health and wellbeing of many people, in particular young ones, create security concerns and lead to premature deaths. Therefore, drug addiction generates costs for public health (drug prevention, healthcare and treatment), public safety, the environment and labour productivity. The market for illicit drugs is the most dynamic criminal market in the EU and is able to adapt rapidly in response to drug control measures.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA; referred to as“the Agency”) was established in 1993 as one of the EU’s decentralised agencies.1 Itsobjective, pursuant to Article 1 of Regulation (EC) 1920/2006 (referred to as “the foundingRegulation”)2, is to provide the EU and its Member States with factual, objective, reliable and comparable information at European level on drugs, drug addiction and their consequences.The Agency’s core tasks are to collect and analyse existing data, improve data comparison methods, disseminate data and to cooperate with European and international bodies and organisations as well as with third countries. The Agency acts as a centre of excellence in providing information on the drugs phenomenon, not only in Europe but also internationally.

Article 23 of the founding Regulation provides for "an external evaluation of the Centre every six years, to coincide with the completion of two of the Centre's three-year work programmes". The evaluation should also address the Reitox system (the European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction).3 The previous evaluation was carried out in 2011/2012.4 Therefore, an evaluation was initiated by the Commission in late 2017 and carried out in 2018. The evaluation was conducted by a consortium lead by ICF Consulting Ltd., in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and Optimity Advisors, and took place between March and November 2018. The final report of the evaluation will be published online.

This report will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council as well as to the Management Board of the Agency. The Staff Working Document, which accompanies this Commission Report, provides a detailed analysis of the outcomes of the external evaluation.