The committee adopted the report by Frieda BREPOELS (EPP-ED, BE) broadly approving the proposed regulation on the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, subject to a number of amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure:
- MEPs wanted to reinstate a provision from the old regulation as a new recital stressing that the information collected by the Centre needs to be comparable and compatible;
- the tasks of the Centre should include providing information on and fostering the exchange of best practices;
- the Centre should cooperate actively with Europol "to attain maximum efficiency in monitoring the drugs problem";
- the national focal points should draw on the experiences of different sectors - health, justice and law enforcement - in cooperation with experts and national organisations active in the field of drugs policy;
- the committee reinstated two paragraphs from the old regulation stipulating that data on drugs and drug addiction may be published "subject to compliance with Community and national rules on the dissemination and confidentiality of information", and that personal data may not be published or made accessible to the public. Moreover, Member States shall be under no obligation to provide information classified as confidential under their national law;
- the European Parliament should be consulted before the adoption of the Centre's work programme;
- the Scientific Committee (which assists the Management Board and the Director of the Centre) should not have more than 15 members, who should be selected on the basis of their expertise, by means of an open procedure. MEPs felt that a Scientific Committee consisting of one representative from each Member State would be too unwieldy and would be unable to function independently and efficiently.
The report also put forward a number of amendments to the rules governing the Management Board and Executive Committee as well as the procedure for the appointment of the Director. Moreover, in addition to the requirement for the Director of the Centre to appear at a hearing before Parliament, MEPs also wanted to hold a hearing of the Chairperson of the Management Board.