ID: HR19-841

Presenting author: Iga Kender-Jeziorska

Presenting author biography:

Iga Kender-Jeziorska is a Political Science PhD student at Corvinus University of Budapest. She's been working in drug policy field for 7 years. She is a coordinator in Youth Organisations for Drug Action and a chair of the Working Group on EU Drug Strategy in Civil Society Forum on Drugs.

When it’s not binding: European NGOs’ account on EU Drug Action Plan implementation.

Iga Kender-Jeziorska, Peter Sarosi

Background: EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan are documents setting strategic aims for the European drug policy. Since they are not legally binding, the implementation of these policies can vary from country to country. Our research aims to contribute to the monitoring of the EU Action Plan by assessing perspectives of European NGOs on how relevant actions included in the AP are implemented in their countries. Method and data: This quantitative study uses an online questionnaire prepared by Civil Society Forum on Drugs and distributed among NGOs in Europe between early April and late June 2018. We collected 176 valid responses from 32 countries. The data was analysed in a comparative perspective. Results: On the European level, there are significant differences regarding the accessibility to and quality of various services, with the highest accessibility and quality of OST, treatment and NSPs, and the lowest accessibility of DCRs, drug-checking, and naloxone distribution. Access to prevention and recovery is very low especially among ethnic minorities, while harm reduction is barely available in prison settings. There are also significant differences between the regions, with Western Europe leading in both accessibility and quality of all examined services, while most countries in Central-Eastern Europe and Western Balkans are lagging behind. Conclusions: The findings show significant gaps in access to and quality of services between and within geographical regions, as well as among vulnerable populations. European Commission should strengthen drug coordination system, create new funding opportunities for civil society and initiate dialogue with those states where the access to services is low. EU Member states should fill the gaps in funding and political support for services that are perceived to have very low accessibility, improve the quality of services by implementing minimum quality standards, and create formal mechanisms to involve civil society in drug policy decision-making.