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International cooperation and technical assistance

1. The Agency shall:

(a) develop an international cooperation framework, to be approved by the Management Board subject to the prior approval of the Commission, which shall guide the activities of the Agency in the area of international cooperation;

(b) cooperate actively with the organisations and bodies referred to in Article 53(1);

(c) support the exchange and dissemination of Union best practices and implementable research results at international level;

(d) monitor developments of the international drugs phenomenon that might pose a threat to or have implications for the Union through the monitoring and analysis of information available from international bodies, national authorities, research findings and other relevant information sources;

(e) provide data and analysis on the European drug situation in appropriate international meetings and technical fora, in close coordination with the Commission, and support the Commission and the Member States in international drugs dialogues;

(f) promote the incorporation of all relevant data on drugs covered by this Regulation and collected in the Member States or emanating from the Union into international monitoring and drug-control programmes, particularly those established by the United Nations and its specialised agencies, without prejudice to Member States’ obligations with regard to the transmission of information under the United Nations Drug Conventions;

(g) support the Member States in reporting the relevant information and providing the required analysis to the United Nations system, including the submission of all relevant data related to new psychoactive substances to the UNODC and the World Health Organization;

(h) support third countries, in particular candidate countries, in developing their drug policies in accordance with the principles set out in the applicable Union drug-related strategic documents, including by providing support to the independent evaluation of their policies, and encourage those third countries to support the participation and involvement of civil society in the development, implementation and evaluation of drug policies.

2. The international cooperation framework referred to in paragraph 1, point (a), shall seek to further strengthen and support third countries’ efforts to address drug issues in an evidence-based, integrated, balanced and multidisciplinary manner and in full compliance with human rights norms. That international cooperation framework shall take into account the relevant policy documents of the Union and consider the developments of the drugs phenomenon. It shall set out the priority countries or regions for cooperation and the key outcomes of the cooperation. It shall take into account the experiences of and activities undertaken by the Member States. The Agency shall evaluate and review the international cooperation framework regularly.

3. The Agency shall transfer, at the request of the Commission and subject to the approval of the Management Board, its expertise and provide technical assistance to third countries, in particular candidate countries, in accordance with the international cooperation framework referred to in paragraph 1, point (a). Technical assistance shall focus, in particular, on setting up or consolidating national focal points, national data collection systems and national early warning systems and on the promotion of best practices in the fields of prevention, treatment, care, risk and harm reduction, rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery, and subsequently assist in the creation and strengthening of structural links with the early warning system referred to in Article 8 and the Reitox network. The Agency may assess the national bodies of a third country where that third country so requests.

4. The Agency shall cooperate with international organisations and with third countries in accordance with Articles 53 and 54.