International Cooperation

Drugs are a global problem. Production, trafficking and the use of illicit drugs do not stop at the borders. Tackling the drugs problem is a shared responsibility of countries worldwide to protect what is at the heart of the international community: the people.

The EU has adopted a strategic approach and targets its actions to specific drug trafficking routes: from the producer and transit countries to the European consumer market.

Most heroin originates from Afghanistan and is smuggled to Europe through the Balkans and Central Asia.

The Andean countries - Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador - remain the major suppliers of cocaine by sea and air into the EU. West Africa has emerged as a transit and storage zone for trafficking cocaine from South America to Europe.

Morocco is the main source country for cannabis resin that enters Europe largely through Spain. There are regular contacts between the EU with the main production and trafficking countries and regions to work together to address the global drugs problem.

EU action and assistance on drugs worldwide

EU drug action plans with countries

The EU has agreed action plans to combat drugs with a number of countries:

• Technical and financial assistance

The EU provides assistance for a wide range of drugs-related projects in Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa along the cocaine trafficking route, and in Afghanistan and Central Asia along the heroin route. The EU also helps the countries of the European Neighbourhood partner countries and Russia to cooperate more closely on drugs.

• EU drugs policy and enlargement

Particular priority is given to technical assistance projects in the candidate countries and potential candidate countries, such as Turkey, Croatia and the countries of the Western Balkans, to help prepare for their eventual accession to the EU.

International agreements

The EU's approach to the drugs problem, the principle of shared responsibility, the protection of human dignity and human rights are an integral part of EU agreements with countries worldwide.

• Preventing Illicit Drugs Production

Co-operation between the EU and other countries has a significant role to play in preventing relevant chemicals from ending up in the illicit manufacture of ecstasy and other dangerous substances. The EU has bi-lateral agreements with many countries.

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UN and Drugs Policy

The international framework for regulating the production, export, import, trade and sales of illicit drugs is based on three United Nation conventions. Most UN member countries participate in these conventions and have introduced drug control measures.

The EU has accepted the five principles of international drug policy adopted at the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in 1998: shared responsibility , emphasis on multilateralism , the balanced approach to reduce drug demand and drug supply, mainstreaming alternative development projects and respect for human rights.

The Commission plays an important coordination role in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is the central policy-making body in international drugs policy.

It is also one of the major donors of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

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International Organisations

The EU cooperates with other international organisations working in the field of illicit drugs and to take coordinated action to the global efforts against drugs:

• the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
• UNAIDS
• the World Health Organisation (WHO)
• the Council of Europe
• World Customs Organisation

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Drug Trafficking Routes

Cannabis

Cannabis is produced in over 176 countries. 54% of cannabis is grown in the Americas, 26% in Africa (Morocco is main producer), 15% in Asia, 4% in Europe and 1% in Oceania.

Cocaine

Most cocaine in the world is produced in the Andean region (Colombia, Bolivia and Peru).

The main cocaine sea routes run through:

• the Caribbean via the Azores to Portugal;
• from South America via Cape Verde or Madeira and the Canary Islands to Europe and most recently;
• from South America to West Africa to Portugal and Spain.

Ecstasy / amphetamines

Ecstasy and amphetamines are mostly produced within the EU.

The Netherlands and Belgium are the main producers of ecstasy (with Poland, Estonia and Lithuania running up). The Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium are the main producers of amphetamines. The chemicals used to manufacture synthetic drugs (precursors) originate mostly from outside the EU (China, India).

Heroin

Most heroin in the world originates in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Laos, with Afghanistan being overwhelmingly the biggest producer.

Most heroin reaches Europe via the Balkan routes, starting in Turkey via:

• Bulgaria, FYROM, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia into Italy or Slovenia;
• via FYROM into Kosovo or Albania into Greece. A route via Ukraine and Romania is also gaining importance.