EU Wants Three New Drugs Added to the UN Drug List

What the document is about
The European Union wants to say what it will support at the next United Nations meeting that decides which drugs are put on the international “controlled” lists. Three new drugs – N‑pyrrolidino isotonitazene, N‑desethyl etonitazene and MDMB‑FUBINACA – have been identified by the World Health Organization as potentially harmful. If they are added to the UN schedules, EU law on drug control will change.

How the problem is solved
The Commission proposes that the EU’s 14 member states that will be members of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2026 will jointly express a single EU position. The position will support adding the three substances to the appropriate UN schedules (two to Schedule I of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs, one to Schedule II of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances). The Council will adopt a decision that records this position in an annex.

What changes as a result

• The three substances will be officially listed on the UN schedules.
• EU law on drug control (Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA) will automatically cover these substances, because the framework applies to any drug listed in the UN schedules.
• The EU will have a unified voice at the CND, even though it is only an observer.

Other important information

• Legal basis – Article 83(1) and Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
• No budget impact – the decision does not require any new spending.
• Implementation – the decision will be adopted by the Council; the member states that are CND members will act together to express the EU position.
• Substances –
• N‑pyrrolidino isotonitazene – Schedule I (Narcotic Drugs).
• N‑desethyl etonitazene – Schedule I (Narcotic Drugs).
• MDMB‑FUBINACA – Schedule II (Psychotropic Substances).
• Timing – the CND meeting is scheduled for 9–13 March 2026 in Vienna.
• Context – the UN conventions were adopted in 1975 (Narcotic Drugs) and 1976 (Psychotropic Substances). The CND can add or remove substances only on WHO recommendations.
• Monitoring – the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA) monitors these substances under Regulation (EU) 2023/1322.
• Member states involved – 14 EU states that will be CND members in 2026 (including Denmark and Ireland, which are already bound by the Framework Decision).

The Council’s decision will formally set the EU’s position and ensure that the new drugs are controlled under both international and EU law.