CILC experts are working together with colleagues from Civi.Pol Conseil on the latest Instrument contributing to stability and peace for the Heroin Route Programme (Phase 3) initiative. This multi-million euro programme will continue efforts made since 2008 (Phase 1) and the ongoing programme (Phase 2) of activities to disrupt organised criminal groups, especially in trafficking heroin and other illegal materials to EU member states.
The project was launched in Brussels on 19 September 2014 and is expected to be completed by December 2015.
A ‘Mapping and Gap Analysis’ report was completed in November, following extensive consultations with EU officials in Brussels and at some 14 EU Delegations throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Consultations have also taken place with previous and current project partners, including a number of UN agencies, civil society organisations and development agencies from EU members states. The next phase of the project concerns the preparation of an ‘Action Document’ by the end of January 2015, which will be reviewed by the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The Heroin Route Programme remains the principal EU trans regional programme of activities, designed to counteract organised criminal groups operating in the complex geographical areas between Afghanistan (as a main source of illicit heroin) and the European Union.