[6] The Agency was founded on the principle that independent scientific research is a "vital resource to help Europe understand the nature of its drug problems and better respond to them.

"[6] Its stated missions are to: Among the Centre's target groups are policy-makers, who use this information to help formulate coherent national and EU drug strategies.

At the heart of the Centre's work is the task of improving the comparability of drug information across Europe and devising the methods and tools required to achieve this.

As a result of efforts to date, countries can now view how they fit into the wider European picture and examine common problems and goals.

[9] This human and computer network links the national information systems of the 28 Member States, Norway, and their key partners to the Agency.

Efforts to standardise research and data collection are an essential element to maintaining consistency and validity in universal application throughout the European Union.