Advertisers know about the weakness of human nature. Every year, the run up to the end of year holiday is systematically filled with temptation: festive food and booze, gluehwein and gateaux.  From the producer, to the distributor, to the shop, to our shopping bag; in a commercial world, it’s all just a question of supply and demand.

In the criminal world, the imperative is just the same. From cocaine and heroin out of farmers’ fields to the methampehtamine and ecstasy cooked up in labs, the drugs trade is just as much a commercial enterprise as any other: goods moving from the point of production to markets in the same way as their legal equivalents.

Since the first opium wars between China and the British Empire at beginning of the 18th century, the supply lines for drugs have been a matter of international concern. The drugs may now be different, but the demand remains and the rewards for meeting it are  substantial; equal to one per cent of the global economy, according to the UN. While criminals are creaming off the money, users are paying the price in terms of fatalities and ruined health. The bill paid by society in crime, absenteeism and health costs adds up to billions of Euros a year.

Attempts to reduce drugs use at European level were spearheaded 30 years ago when French President George Pompidou, brought together seven countries to form the group which now carries his name. The first anti-drugs body to use a multi-disciplinary approach to prevention, treatment, law enforcement and trafficking, it has succeeded in breaking down barriers between professionals who are making a difference in a war where there are no easy wins.

As Europe has opened up, the challenges have multiplied. A Europe without borders makes it easier for modern criminals to traffic their wares along the so-called “Balkan route” from Asia, with corruption providing a major stumbling block to anti-drugs action. Since joining the EU in 2007, both Romania and Bulgaria have failed to convince EU peers that their anti-corruption reforms are effective, blocking their chances of entering Schengen.  Experts at a Pompidou Group conference in Ljubljana this week could help to resolve both problems by bringing fresh ideas to the table. At the same time a study of drug use in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo will hopefully pinpoint problem areas that will lead to better targeted services.

The best news of all in the Group’s fight against drugs is a new wave of enlargement that will coincide with the conference. Morocco has just joined, and Monaco will come into the fold at the conference; there are high hopes that Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine will also sign up. Discussions are underway with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia: important countries for developing balanced policies in South East Europe, a vulnerable region for drug use and a primary transit zone for heroin towards Western Europe. With their joint commitment to block the supply routes, the Pompidou Group is now set to be at its most powerful in beating the drug traffickers and helping the drug users.