Ladies and Gentlemen,

When it comes to illegal drugs, Europe is reaching a crisis point.

Between 2013 and 2023, the quantity of drugs seized in the EU has soared cocaine, six times more than a decade ago; meth, more than triple; ecstasy, more than double.

These are not just statistics, they are human lives lost: 7,500 Europeans a year - not to mention the bloodshed, violence, corruption, and social harm that comes with the illegal drugs trade.

This is why today we are taking urgent action to change direction.

With todays EU Drugs Strategy and the Action Plan, we send the drug lords and their organisations a clear message: Europe is fighting back.

We must fight on all fronts at the same time: prevention, treatment and security.

We will detect and stop precursors for synthetic drugs, and we will find and dismantle the labs where production happens.

We will partner up with our cities and communities on prevention and treatment through the EU Agenda for Cities which Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto is also presented today.

We will close our maritime ports to traffickers, with an even stronger European Ports Alliance and partnerships for port security in Latin America.

We will push for the most modern detection technology to catch drugs sent through the mail and online.

But the fight against drug traffickers must start long before they reach our borders are reached.

That is why we are doubling down on cooperation with partner countries: on data sharing and on joint operations.

For example, by building on the success of our special maritime ops (operations).

Our EU Agencies will be key players in our new approach .

The EU Drugs Agency will operate a new EU Drug Alert system to detect precursors and trends early.

Europols new mandate will allow it to enhance cooperation with partner countries and coordinate operations for drugs in transit.

And Frontex will get state-of-the-art resources like aerial assets and high-resolution satellite imagery.

Finally, drug traffickers use the latest technologies, which means we need innovation to beat them.

That is why we are establishing an Innovation Campus for testing cutting-edge technologies to disrupt drug trafficking.

Already too many have been lost to death, addiction, and violence caused by traffickers. Now is the time for us to turn the tides.

Thank you.