An analysis of drugs in used syringes from sentinel European cities: results from the ESCAPE project, 2018 and 2019

EMCDDA, Lisbon, February 2021

Summary

This report presents new findings from the ESCAPE (European Syringe Collection and Analysis Project Enterprise) network, based on the chemical analysis of the contents of used syringes across sentinel sites in Europe. Syringes were collected in 2018 and 2019 from the bins of street automatic injection-kit dispensers and at harm reduction services in eight European cities: Amsterdam, Budapest, Cologne, Helsinki, Lausanne, Oslo, Paris and Vilnius.

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Table of contents

  • ESCAPE at a glance
  • Sudy rationale
  • Methods
  • Results
    • Detected drugs
    • Some patterns confirmed
    • Changing patterns
    • new sites
  • Limitations
  • Conclusions
  • References
  • Appendices

Main subject:

drug use



ESMA highlights risks to retail investors of social media driven share trading

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has released a statement to highlight to retail investors the risks connected with trading decisions based exclusively on exchanges of views, informal recommendations and sharing of trading intentions through social networks and unregulated online platforms. The statement is issued as part of ESMA’s investor protection objective to safeguard retail investors, whose participation is key to the development of the Capital Markets Union.

Several recent episodes have seen certain US stocks experience high price volatility based on information shared on social media. Although market rules and structures are different in the European Union, it cannot be ruled out that similar circumstances may develop here. 

The statement highlights the following issues:

  • Investors need to use reliable information for investment decisions;
  • Increased risk of investor loss due to price volatility; and
  • Risk of committing market abuse.

Next steps

ESMA and the National Competent Authorities will continue analysing market events and consider adopting further initiatives aimed at preserving investor protection and market integrity as appropriate.



European Cooperation: new online services in Lithuania

February 16, 2021 EU Intellectual Property Network

European Cooperation: new online services in Lithuania

The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania (SPB), with the support of the EUIPO’s European cooperation project ECP1, has improved the e-filing and e-services tools available for its users. It did so by integrating these tools with the Register of Legal Entities and the Register of Addresses.

The front office platform, available via the SPB website, now allows users to benefit from several new features, such as:  

  • filing applications and requests electronically
  • to automatically retrieve addresses and company data from the official Register of Legal Entities and the Register of addresses. This helps reducing potential misprints and human errors when filing applications in the front office and avoiding incorrect applicant data to be imported to the SPB back office system

The launch of the improved e-filing and e-services at the SPB took place on 29 January 2021, and it is yet another example of successful implementation of an improvement to a front office tool in an intellectual property office of the EU.

This release is the result of work carried out by the EUIPO within the framework of the European cooperation projects. These projects support intellectual property offices in developing more efficient, reliable and user-friendly tools and services for trade marks and designs within the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN).

 



Media advisory – Press briefing ahead of the informal video conference of fisheries ministers of 22 February 2021

The press briefing ahead of the informal video conference of fisheries ministers will take place on Thursday, 18 February 2021 at 18:30. This briefing will be “off the record”.

Please note that this press briefing will take place remotely.

In order to participate and ask questions, EU accredited journalists should register using this link.

Those who already registered for previous press briefings or press conferences of informal video conferences of agriculture and fisheries ministers do not need to do it again.

  • Deadline for registration:  18 February at 17:30

Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline.



Media advisory – Press briefing ahead of the informal video conference of education ministers of 19 February 2021

The press briefing ahead of the informal video conference of education ministers will take place on Thursday, 18 February 2021 at 10.00. This briefing will be “off the record”.

Please note that this press briefing will take place remotely.

In order to participate and ask questions, EU accredited journalists should register using this link.

Those who already registered for previous press briefings or press conferences of informal video conferences of education ministers do not need to do it again.

  • Deadline for registration:  18 February at 9:00

Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline.