Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) 8 project activities
The EMCDDA cooperates with candidate and potential candidates to the EU since 2008, by developing and implementing technical cooperation projects financed by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) of the European Commission. The ultimate goals of these projects are to familiarise the beneficiaries with EU policies and working methods and to prepare them for participating in the work of the EMCDDA. The EMCDDA launched the IPA8 technical cooperation project in January 2023.
IPA8 – Increased integration of the IPA beneficiaries in the activities of the EMCDDA and the Reitox network – comprises six beneficiaries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia.
About
Timetable: January 2023 – December 2026
Overall goal: To promote and support the uptake by the Western Balkans of EU best practices and approaches in health and security areas and to strengthen the strategic and operational cooperation within the Western Balkans and between the region and the EU in the drug monitoring and information area, using EU standards and tools.
This goal is divided into two specific objectives.
- Specific objective (1): To ensure that the Western Balkans and the EU are better informed of drug-related health and security threats in the region and that the WB partners are supported to formulate adequate responses to those threats. This objective will build on the previous activities undertaken by the EMCDDA with regard to the development of a national drug information system aligned with the EU drugs information; namely the establishment of an operational National Drug Observatory (national focal point) and a national early warning system (NEWS), in each of the beneficiary countries.
- Specific objective (2): To ensure that the Western Balkans are supported in the adoption and implementation of the EU acquis in the field of drug information, in particular on setting up NDO and NEWS aligned to the EU. This specific objective will build on the progress made during previous activities undertaken by the EMCDDA with regard to the development of a national drug information system aligned with the EU drugs information. This encompasses the establishment of an operational national drug observatory (national focal point) and of a national early warning system (NEWS) on new psychoactive substances (NPS), in each of the beneficiary countries, as well as the stepwise alignment of the national data collection system of each beneficiary with the EU standards.
The total project budget is EUR 1.5 million.
Media resources
- EMCDDA beyond EU borders: spotlight on pre-accession partners (IPA) (video)
- European Web Survey on Drugs 2021 - Promotional video (available in Albanian; Macedonian; Montenegrin/Serbian)
- IPA7 participants at the 2020 European Drugs Summer School
- IPA7 — working with the EMCDDA
Beneficiaries
The EMCDDA cooperates with candidate and potential candidates to the EU since 2008 by developing and implementing technical cooperation projects financed by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) of the European Commission. The ultimate goals of these projects are to familiarise the beneficiaries with EU policies and working methods and to prepare them for participating in the work of the EMCDDA.
Partners
*Kosovo: This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.