By Agnes Szucs
BRUSSELS (AA) – EU member states approved on Tuesday the establishment of the EU Drugs Agency to fight “new health and security challenges posed by illicit drugs.”
The Council of the EU announced in a statement that the member states adopted the legislation that replaces the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction with a European Union Drugs Agency.
Based in Lisbon, Portugal, the new EU agency will prepare analyses, and issue early warnings and risk assessments to member states on drug-related problems.
The agency will also work with other institutions and non-EU countries.
According to Gunnar Strommer, the Swedish justice minister, with the establishment of the agency, the bloc will be better equipped to tackle “national and global security problems” related to “illicit drugs and drug trafficking” and “violent organized crime.”