Mid-term assessment of the EU drugs strategy 2013-2020 and final evaluation of the action plan on drugs 2013-2016 : final report

This evaluation assesses the degree of implementation of the EU Drugs Strategy 2013- 2020 and the Action Plan 2013-2016 in terms of outputs and, to the extent possible, impacts. It looks at the extent to which the objectives of the EU Drugs Strategy have been achieved, highlighting the areas where progress has been made and those where progress is lagging. In addition, the evaluation aims to provide evidence to support the Commission's decision about whether to propose a new Action Plan for the period 2017- 2020, and if so, what changes would be needed compared to the current plan. In accordance with the Better Regulation guidelines, the evaluation addresses 13 research questions that relate to the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and coherence of the EU Drugs Strategy and the Action Plan as well as their EU added value. The evaluation addresses all parts of the Strategy; the two policy areas (or 'pillars') of drug demand and drug supply reduction, and the three cross-cutting themes of coordination, international cooperation, and information, research, monitoring and evaluation. This summary describes how the data were collected for the evaluation (and the limitations to those data), sets out the main findings in relation to each of the 13 research questions and presents some cross-cutting conclusions which highlight key messages from across the evaluation criteria. Lastly, it lists the 20 recommendations made by the evaluation.