Drugs (Hansard, 8 February 1995)

§ Mr. Foulkes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what services the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction will be 279W able to offer to developing countries attempting to replace drug-linked cultivation and defeat drug production and trafficking.

§ Mr. Baldry
The European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction is set up to provide the Community and its member states with objective, reliable and comparable information at the European level on drugs and drug addiction and their consequences. The centre's future work programme has not yet been decided. The centre does not have a remit to offer specific services to less-developed countries. However, subject to member states' obligations on transmission of information under the provisions of United Nations drugs conventions, the centre may promote the inclusion of data it collects into international monitoring and drug control programmes, particularly those established by the UN.

§ Mr. Foulkes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total sum the United Kingdom has made available to the UN drug control programme for each year since 1994 and the percentage of these figures used for drug control programmes in developing countries.

§ Mr. Baldry
The United Kingdom made £4.8 million available to the UN international drug control programme in the financial year 1993–94, the latest complete year for which figures are available. Sixty-two per cent. of this sum was used for UNDCP programmes in less developed countries. The remainder was used for UNDCP programmes in central and eastern European countries.

§ Mr. Foulkes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the criteria, under the draft European action plan to combat drugs which will be used to assess a country's progress in drug control.

§ Mr. Baldry
The scope and extent of co-operation between the European Community and third countries is set out in individual association agreements. These agreements cover all subjects of common interest, including illicit drugs, and aim to promote co-operation and facilitate joint initiatives. They also provide for a continuing process of consultation and co-ordination. Drugs clauses in these agreements may, for example, include co-operation on measures to tackle the supply, trafficking and demand for illicit drugs, as well as action against money laundering and misuse of chemical precursors.
The draft European action plan to combat drugs proposes that failure by recipient governments to achieve the drugs objectives in association agreements would allow the Union to consider suspension or termination of specific aspects of relations, including imposition of political, economic or financial sanctions.

§ Mr. Foulkes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place with European counterparts with regard to the European action plan to combat drugs; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Baldry
The United Kingdom has been actively involved in discussions with European partners about Commission draft proposals for a new European Union action plan to combat drugs. The proposals require further refinement and improvement, within the mechanisms set up under the treaty on European Union, to produce a balanced multidisciplinary plan for effective action. The280W draft plan is to be submitted to the European Council during the current French presidency.
We welcome this work within the European Union to consolidate and further improve anti-drugs co-operation between member states and between the EU and other regions and countries. Drug trafficking and misuse remain a serious and growing threat to the UK, other countries in the European Union and most other countries around the world. Drug traffickers are quick to exploit new markets and routes for their pernicious trade. Firm national action by all Governments is fundamentally important. But effective practical action and international co-operation are also essential if we are to succeed in defeating the global menace of the illicit drug trade.
The UK has played, and will continue to play, a leading role in the international fight against drugs, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in particular through the UN international drug control programme, the Council of Europe and the European Union.