In her presentation, the candidate prioritized the equality portfolio, committing in particular to fully implementing the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. .
New European Commission: Hadja Lahbib gives her grand oral exam to MEPs on Wednesday
Roadmap for human rights, new post-2025 gender equality strategy, review of the strategy for equality for LGBTIQ people, new anti-racism strategy, new measures in favor of people with disabilities, strategic framework for Roma communities, protection against cyber-harassment: Hadaj Lahbib is committed to all these points, without however going into the detail of the planned measures.
As for crises and their management, the candidate confirmed the need to better prepare the Union. “We can no longer simply react to crises, we must better anticipate and prevent through a strategy of support for Member States, which I will present at the start of my mandate.” Hadja Lahbib also insisted on the need to involve the whole of society and citizens to build a shared “culture” of crisis preparedness, a point on which Ursula von der Leyen had already insisted.
The candidate focused on the situation in Spain, hit by deadly floods. “This is terrible evidence that we need to prepare better. So I will strengthen our climate resilience and contribute to our climate adaptation plan.” Preparing for health crises and chemical, biological or nuclear threats were also discussed.
As for humanitarian aid, the head of Belgian diplomacy underlined the importance of involving more donors around the world and encouraging Member States to achieve the objective of 0.7% of the gross national product. Without directly citing UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, supported by the EU but targeted by Israel, she repeated support for the UN and recalled the principles of not targeting civilian populations, schools and hospitals.
Applauded at the end of her introduction, the candidate continued with questions from MEPs, to which she answered this time in French.
