The Council of the EU, on behalf of the governments, and the European Parliament have defined this Wednesday the key lines of their respective positions with a view to the regulatory reform that seeks to intensify the fight against drugs, with a special focus on strengthening the supervision of designer precursors. These are chemical substances used to manufacture illegal narcotics and that have hardly any uses considered legitimate in the fields of research and innovation.
The Twenty-Seven have approved their negotiating mandate on this same day, while the European Parliament’s mandate will be validated predictably next week, provided that no objections are raised during the plenary session. Once that step has been completed, formal talks can begin between the two institutions as co-legislators.
In the case of member states, their representatives argue that companies from outside the Union that intend to market legal precursors in the Single Market should be required to appoint a single representative within the EU. This figure will be responsible for applying, on their behalf, for the licenses necessary for the sale and for fully assuming responsibility for compliance with the requirements set out in the EU rules.
The capitals also call for the creation of a single, centralized IT system for the management of preliminary import data, connected to the new EU customs data hub. They also advocate for уточning the definitions of precursors and for incorporating new categories when appropriate, in order to prevent fragmented legal frameworks and divergent concepts among member states from leading to unequal treatment of certain products.
From the European Parliament, the Members of the European Parliament lean toward banning substances designed specifically to bypass drug controls, provided that exceptions are considered for the field of research. They also support requiring e-commerce platforms to have mechanisms to verify sellers and remove listings that do not comply with the rules in force in the EU.
European Parliament negotiators also call for suspicious operations and thefts related to drug precursors not listed in the official register to be reported, while defending that investigative activity and innovation be safeguarded through exemptions and the application of reduced fees.