The EC CADAP Programme is a sister programme to two other EC initiatives: the BUMAD Programme, which covers Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova; and the SCAD Programme, which covers Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

All three programmes share a common overall objective: to foster a regional, development-oriented drug control strategy that ensures a sustained reduction of drug consumption and trafficking in line with European Union best practices. These best practices can be summarized as follows:

• To base drug policy on science and research, not ideology
• To base supply policies on intelligence/risk analysis
• To encourage regional cooperation among law enforcement bodies
• To adopt model legislative/regulation framework as a prerequisite for drug action
• To base all drug policies on respect for human rights
• To prevent drug abuse but not to criminalize drug addicts
• To develop harm-reduction measures for long-term addicts
• To balance the response between drug and demand

For these reasons, the CADAP strategy is:

• Regional in nature in order to develop cooperation
• Long-term and institution-building in approach
• Concerned with establishing good practice through demonstration projects