The Eastern and Central European and Central Asian Commission on Drug Policy (ECECACD) has published a new position paper, Accession to the EU: A Paradigm Change Towards Health-based Drug Policy, examining how European Union enlargement could shape drug policy reform in candidate countries.

The paper focuses on eight EU candidate countries in the Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia (ECECA) region and analyzes the EU acquis on drug policy from a health and human rights perspective. The EU acquis, formally known as the acquis communautaire, refers to the body of EU laws, standards, policies, and best practices that candidate countries must adopt as part of the accession process. In the area of drug policy, the acquis reflects an evidence-based, integrated, and multidisciplinary approach, grounded in the EU’s founding values, including respect for human dignity, equality, the rule of law, and human rights.

The analysis finds that EU accession requirements clearly support a shift toward more effective, health-centered drug policies in the ECECA region. At the same time, it highlights that current accession negotiations often prioritize a narrow set of technical interventions, without adequately integrating the public health and human rights dimensions of the EU acquis.

The paper concludes with recommendations for candidate countries and EU institutions to ensure that EU accession processes effectively support balanced, health- and human rights-based drug policies across the ECECA region.