Activites

• 2015/12/18 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2015)0674 summary

    PURPOSE: to subject α-PVP to control measures and criminal penalties as provided under their legislation by virtue of their obligations under the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion. BACKGROUND:  the risks of α-PVP were assessed by the Scientific Committee of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addition (EMCDDA), acting in compliance with the provisions of Council Decision 2005/387/JHA. In particular, the Council requested an assessment of the risks caused by the use, manufacture and trafficking of the new psychoactive substance α-PVP. The Chair of the Scientific Committee submitted the risk assessment report to the Commission and to the Council on 27 November 2015. α-PVP is a potent psychostimulant. The substance detected in all 28 Member States as well as in Turkey and Norway, is mainly imported into the EU drug market from China and then distributed across Europe. There have been a total of 115 deaths and 191 acute intoxications registered in eight Member States reported where α-PVP was detected. There is no available information or published studies assessing in a comprehensive way the health risks associated with α-PVP, namely chronic and acute toxicity, but observations in animals suggest similar effects with those observed with other stimulants. According to the risk assessment report, the acute toxicity of α-PVP is such that it can cause severe harms to the health of individuals. Therefore, the Commission considered that there are grounds for subjecting this substance to control measures across the Union. CONTENT: the objective of this proposal for a Council Decision is to call upon the Member States to subject α-PVP to control measures and criminal penalties as provided under their legislation by virtue of their obligations under the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Currently, sixteen Member States control α-PVP under national legislation complying with the obligations of the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances and five Member States use other legislative measures to control it. Subjecting this substance to control measures across the Union would help avoid the emergence of obstacles in cross-border law enforcement and judicial cooperation, and would help protect from the risks that its availability and use can pose.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/', 'title': 'Migration and Home Affairs'}, AVRAMOPOULOS Dimitris

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2015)0674

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)