 I'm very glad to be here at the launch of the European Drug Report 2021. We can only act based on facts, and this report provides a solid basis for robust action. Drug trafficking, drug production, drug addiction, are growing concerns. Over a 10-year period, police have seized increasing amounts of drugs, year on year. Drugs of all kinds and all types, from cannabis to cocaine, from methamphetamine to MDMA, from amphetamines to heroin, pointing in part to effective police action, but also to increase availability and production. The pandemic did not stop people using drugs. Use dropped in the first few months of lockdown, but then bounced back. The pandemic had first posed obstacles for people with drug problems, dependency, harmful use to get help. But thankfully drug services managed to innovate, providing telemedicine and distant services. The pandemic did not stop drug traffickers and dealers. They quickly adapted to lockdowns, travel restrictions and border closures, relying less on human couriers, more on shipping containers. The supply of cocaine to Europe continues uninterrupted. In 2019, law enforcement seized 213 tonnes of cocaine, more than ever before. And in Europe itself, the production of cannabis and synthetic drugs continues to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, member states seized nearly 3 tonnes of methamphetamine, five times more than the year before, of this very addictive and dangerous drug. The pandemic is pushing drug criminals online, reinforcing a trend. Drug dealers are moving from the streets onto social media, taking orders via encrypted messaging services, sending drugs to customers via home delivery services. Drug trafficking is an organised crime. In fact, it dominates organised crime. Only 40% of criminal groups are engaged in drug trafficking. As Europe's recent SOCTA report shows, organised crime is a growing threat, undermining our societies, operating like multinational businesses with complex supply chains, making at least 30 billion euro in drugs money every year. Undermining our economies by infiltrating legitimate business, subverting our societies by spreading corruption. Drug criminals bribe their way across borders through airports and harbours, spreading death and destruction. Drug's crime is the most violent of all organised crimes. Traffickers compete for markets and commit arson, shootings, bombings, killing innocent victims in the crossfire. To fight this threat, we need to cut the supply of drugs by disrupting crime groups, cutting our finances, blocking supply routes in and out of Europe, supply by air, by rail and over water, offline and online. Dismantling drug production and processing. Our main weapon is the strategy against organised crime that I launched in April. We will boost police cooperation across borders. We will speed up and simplify operational information exchange, for example on fingerprints and DNA and number plates. We will follow the money through financial investigations and asset recovery. We will fight corruption. We will promote digital innovation in law enforcement. Police must always be one step ahead of the criminals. We can only fight drugs as a criminal threat if we also understand drugs are a social issue and a healthcare issue. That's why the European Union is taking broad action based on the new EU drug strategy and upcoming action plan. Besides cutting supply, we must also reduce the demand for drugs, through prevention, by reaching out to vulnerable people, to people most at risk, children, teenagers, young people, to help them resist drugs and live healthy lives. Through early intervention to prevent drug use from developing interdiction and disease, not by blaming but by caring and helping, aided by society, schools, teachers, sport clubs. We need also to focus on female users who face specific challenges like pregnancy, child care and domestic violence. And we need to prevent drug deaths. In 2019, more than 5,000 people in the European Union died of an overdose. So we need to do much, much more. In short, we need to help people stay away from drugs, step away from drugs or to get the help and treatment they need. And we need to continue to fight the criminals. We can only make policies based on evidence as presented in today's European Drug Report. I warmly want to thank Alexis and his team at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction for doing an excellent job. Thank you.