Dear First name / Readers,

 

It has been an exceptional few weeks for PAREA, with a lot happening across policy, research, and our wider community. On 6 May, we co-organised a European Parliament discussion on psychedelic research and war-related mental health needs in Ukraine, bringing together policymakers, clinicians, researchers, veterans, and civil society. That same day, the Parliament’s Health Committee held a discussion on the missing public health dimension in drug policy reforms in EU candidate countries - a topic PAREA helped bring to the agenda together with our Ukrainian partners.

 

The following day, we hosted the first European Forum of National Psychedelic Societies in Brussels, with organisations from 25 countries around the table. It is the beginning of something important: a more connected European community that can learn from each other, coordinate better, and work together over the long term.

 

This edition also covers several PsyPal developments, including the recent EU Health Policy Platform webinar, our participation in the European Association for Palliative Care World Congress, and a new guidance paper on building coalitions for implementation. We are also pleased to share that PAREA’s 2025 Annual Report is now live, capturing a year of real progress for our alliance and the field.

 

Finally, the PAREA team will be at ICPR in Haarlem in early June. We look forward to seeing many of you there and continuing these conversations in person.

 

Tadeusz Hawrot

 

PAREA NEWS

On 6 May 2026, PAREA co-organised a high-level event at the European Parliament on psychedelic research and access in Ukraine, together with the MEP Action Group on Psychedelics in Healthcare and the Ukrainian Psychedelic Research Association (UPRA), hosted by MEP Vytenis Andriukaitis.

The discussion brought together policymakers, clinicians, researchers, veterans, and civil society representatives to explore evidence-based responses to war-related mental health conditions, particularly PTSD. Speakers included Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin, veteran Stanislav Hibadulin, Prof. David Nutt, Prof. Geert Dom, Prof. Eric Vermetten, and representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health.

 

Participants also released a joint statement calling for safe, ethical, and scientifically rigorous research into innovative mental health treatments in Ukraine.

 

On 6 May, the European Parliament’s Health Committee (SANT) held a formal exchange of views with Dr Pavel Bém on “Excellence in Health Science: The Missing Public Health Dimension in Drug Policy Reforms in Candidate Countries within the EU Accession Process.” PAREA played a central role in bringing this topic to the SANT agenda, in close collaboration with our Ukrainian partners.

The discussion focused on the need for EU accession processes to better reflect public health, harm reduction, human rights, and evidence-based approaches in drug policy reforms, particularly in candidate countries such as Ukraine. We were also pleased to hear references to psychedelic therapies during the discussion and to see clear interest from several MEPs in this area of mental health innovation. 

 

The recording is available here. The relevant session starts at 09:17:20.

 

PAREA convened the first European Forum of National Psychedelic Societies in Brussels on 7 May 2026, bringing together representatives of organisations from 25 countries working on psychedelic research, policy, and access across Europe. The closed, invitation-only meeting focused on practical pathways to access, including early access programmes, compassionate use, rescheduling, implementation strategies, and engagement with policymakers and regulators. Speakers included Gerhard Gründer and Lowan Stewart, who shared perspectives on clinical research and healthcare implementation from Germany and Norway. The Forum marked an important step toward stronger European collaboration on safe, regulated, and equitable access to psychedelic therapies.

 

Earlier this month, PAREA General Assembly approved our 2025 Annual Report. The report captures a year of major progress in psychedelic policy and mental health innovation across Europe. In 2025, PAREA helped shape EU level discussions on regulation, research, and access pathways, contributed to EMA and WHO guidance, and advanced proposals including a European Mental Health Moonshot. The report also highlights growing momentum across Member States, from psilocybin access frameworks to expanded mental health funding and clinical research initiatives across Europe.

 

Beyond bringing together organisations from 25 countries, one of the first outcomes of the European Forum of National Psychedelic Societies has been the expansion of PAREA’s Community Supporter network.

We are thus pleased to welcome 8 organisations from across Europe working to advance psychedelic therapy research, policy development, and safe, equitable access at the national level.

New Community Supporters include:

This spring, PAREA continued supporting the EU-funded PsyPal project through public and policy engagement and Congress participation. We co-organised a webinar with the European Commission’s EU Health Policy Platform exploring psychedelic therapy for psychological distress in palliative care and neurological conditions. Watch the recording here.

 

We were also grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 20th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) in Prague, held under the theme “Palliative care research: from strong foundations to new horizons.” PAREA Founder and Executive Director Tadeusz Hawrot contributed to a session on EAPC-partnered research, joining a panel discussion on engaging with policy and spotlighting PsyPal - the EU-funded trial exploring psilocybin therapy for psychological and existential distress in chronic, life-limiting conditions. Throughout the event, PAREA also hosted an information table, providing an opportunity to connect with clinicians, researchers, and stakeholders from across Europe and discuss the future of psychedelic therapies within palliative care research and practice.

 

 👉 More details

During the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna this March, PAREA Founder Tadeusz Hawrot spoke with Drugreporter about the evolving landscape of psychedelic research and policy in Europe. The interview explored PAREA’s work translating scientific evidence into EU policymaking, Europe’s position in relation to developments in the US, which psychedelic substances are most likely to become medicines in the EU, and the role of national approaches, including recent developments in the Czech Republic. We thank Péter Sárosi for the interview and István Gábor Takács for filming and technical support.

 

On Friday, April 10, Tadeusz Hawrot spoke at the SPACE symposium “Psychedelics in the Clinic: From Science to Experience” in Porto. His talk focused on PAREA’s shift toward the experiential dimension of psychedelic treatments and the implications for policy and care. SPACE, a Portuguese scientific association founded in 2021, has been a PAREA Community Supporter since the early days and works to advance research and knowledge on the therapeutic use of psychedelics.

 

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

Sweden’s first clinical trial on psilocybin-assisted therapy, conducted at Karolinska Institutet and funded by PAREA partner Norrsken Mind, reported promising results for depression treatment. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study found that a single dose of psilocybin combined with psychotherapeutic support led to rapid and clinically meaningful symptom reduction. At six weeks, 53% of participants receiving psilocybin were in remission, compared to 6% in the placebo group. The trial adds to growing evidence supporting psychedelic-assisted therapies in mental healthcare.

 

In a new guest contribution for PAREA, Diego Giacoman, founder of Ser Ajayu in Bolivia, explores how information governance and transcultural knowledge translation can support a more coherent and equitable psychedelic renaissance. Drawing on perspectives from the Global South, the article argues that regulatory frameworks in Europe should move beyond purely clinical or technical approaches and include ancestral knowledge, epistemic justice, and lived experience. The piece highlights the importance of inclusive governance, ethical implementation, and genuine dialogue between scientific, spiritual, and Indigenous knowledge systems.

 

A new study by Måns Bergkvist and Björn Johnson, funded by PAREA founding member Norrsken Mind, revisits the history behind the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Drawing on archival material from the UN, Sweden, and the United States, the authors argue that the scheduling of psychedelics was shaped less by scientific evidence than by political pressures, media panic, Cold War dynamics, and anxieties around youth culture and social change. The paper raises important questions about the foundations of today’s international regulatory framework.

 

THE LATEST FROM EUROPE (& BEYOND)

In March, France’s medicines agency (ANSM) approved compassionate access to generic intravenous ketamine for adults experiencing acute suicidal ideation. The three-year programme allows hospital-based administration under psychiatric supervision and does not exclude patients based on psychiatric comorbidities. The decision was based on evidence supporting ketamine’s effectiveness, the lack of adequate alternatives, and its lower cost compared to esketamine. France now joins countries such as Norway and Germany in expanding access to psychedelic-related treatments and compassionate use frameworks in Europe.

 

The OECD has published a new report, The Economic Case for Preventing Mental Ill Health, underlining the scale of mental health challenges across Europe. More than one in five people across OECD and EU countries are affected, making mental ill health one of the most significant public health issues today.

 

Access remains a major concern, with nearly two-thirds of those needing care in the EU facing inadequate support. Mental ill health also has a strong impact on workforce participation and productivity.

 

The report provides new estimates on healthcare costs and economic impacts, while other studies suggest the overall burden may be much higher when broader effects are taken into account.

 

A new report from the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders (IAMHRF) finds that, after nearly doubling between 2014 and 2020, global mental health research funding had declined back toward 2014 levels in real terms by 2023. The report also highlights that mental health continues to receive only a small fraction of overall health financing and research investment, despite its growing disease burden. At the same time, investment outside the United States - including in the European Union - has continued to grow significantly over the past decade.

 

Over the past weeks, the debate on the EU’s next long-term budget (2028–2034) has intensified, with growing efforts in the European Parliament to protect dedicated health funding within the proposed European Competitiveness Fund. On 15 April, the Parliament’s Budget Committee called for €10 billion to remain earmarked for health objectives and warned against diluting the current EU4Health programme. This position subsequently gained further support across Parliament, including from the health committee, which backed significantly higher allocations for public health, digital health, preparedness, and health-related industrial policy. On 28 April, Parliament formally adopted its interim MFF position, including support for approximately €10 billion for EU4Health-related programmes—around double the current budget.

 

EU negotiators have reached a provisional agreement on the Critical Medicines Act, a major new initiative aimed at strengthening Europe’s medicine supply chains and reducing dependence on production outside the EU.

 

The deal includes new procurement rules allowing governments to give preference to medicines manufactured in Europe, alongside measures to support strategic production capacity, diversify suppliers, and improve long-term supply security. The legislation also expands support for orphan medicines and joint procurement between member states.

The agreement reflects a broader shift in EU health policy toward strengthening European manufacturing, supply resilience, and strategic autonomy in the development and production of medicines.

 

Upcoming Events with PAREA Participation

On June 3rd, PAREA will participate in THE REAL Summit London 2026, a gathering focused on the intersection of finance and mental health innovation. PAREA Founder Tadeusz Hawrot will moderate the panel “Europe’s Psychedelic Moment: Access Without Industry?” featuring leaders from Imperial College London, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and Norrsken Mind. The discussion will explore access pathways, innovation models, and the future of psychedelic therapies in Europe as interest in scalable mental health solutions continues to grow across policy, philanthropy, and investment sectors.

 

The European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress will take place in Geneva from 27 to 30 June 2026, bringing together leading neurologists, researchers, and healthcare professionals from around the world.. PAREA will be present with a booth in the Neurohood, engaging in discussions pertaining to emergent therapeutic approaches with psychedelics in neurology and the PsyPal project, which is exploring the treatment of existential distress in three neurological conditions with psilocybin therapy.

 

Upcoming Events of Interest 

As a member of our community, you can use code PAREA20 at checkout to get 20% off your ticket!

WHAT WE ARE READING