Questions posed by Members of European Parliament Dennis DE JONG, GUE/NGL, SP and Sophie IN ‘T VELD, ALDE, D66 (Netherlands),

The Civil Society Forum (CSF) that has been created by the Commission `to increase informal consultation and the input of civil society on drug-related activities, policy proposals, policy implementation and priorities of the EU Drugs Strategy and the EU Action Plan on Drugs`.

1) Can the Commission specify in detail how it has used the €1 mln. which the EP allocated in 2007 for organising a dialogue with civil society on drugs policies?

2) Since the composition of the CSF will have to be reconsidered in January 2011, can the Commission clarify which will be the guiding principles for selecting the future members of the CSF? How will the Commission ensure the transparency of the selection process?

3) The main challenge in this field for the near future will be the preparation of a new European Drugs Strategy (2013-2018). Does the Commission agree with the idea that such a strategy has to be based on clear evidence relating to the effectiveness of Member States´ policies in this area? In this respect, what policy conclusions did the Commission draw from the Reuter/Trautmann study (Report on Global Illicit Drugs Markets 1998-2007)? Does the Commission intend to commission similar studies for the preparation of the new Drugs Strategy?

4) Can the Commission submit to the EP a summary of the findings of the CSF hitherto? Can the Commission evaluate how effective the CSF has been in helping the Commission in preparing its own views? Which were the successes and which the failures so far? How will the Commission ensure that the views expressed by the CSF will have an impact on the preparation of the new Drugs Strategy?

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