[5] During the 1960s, the "French Connection", a large-scale drug smuggling scheme allowing the import of heroin into the United States via Turkey and France, raised international concerns.

On 6 August 1971,[6] former French President Georges Pompidou sent a letter to his counterparts of Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom expressing his concerns and proposing a joint effort "to better understand and tackle the growing drug problems in Europe.

[11] It publishes on a number of topics such as review of seizures carried out at borders,[12] guidelines for custom officers, drug markets,[4] and epidemiology.

[5] More recently, the group has started involving on topics such as addiction to the internet,[17] trade in precursors, on-line drug sales, gender-related issues, prison policies, etc.

[18] On 16 June 2021, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the initiative,[19] the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution CM/Res(2021)4[20] making important changes to the status and mandate of the group.

In addition, the US and the Holy See "at their request and after deliberation by the Permanent Correspondents, have been associated with the work of the Pompidou Group on an ad hoc technical basis.

[22] Civil society stakeholders have criticized the Pompidou Group for leaving little room for the direct participation and involvement of non-governmental organizations in its work and discussions.

In 2022, while announcing the withdrawal of his country from the Pompidou Group, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov nonetheless declared that "the expert dialogue with the EU on combatting drugs has until recently been one of the few that has not been subject to political conjuncture.