BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
The European Commission presented on Tuesday in Strasbourg the team that is called upon to make up the new European executive. Ursula von der Leyen did not manage to achieve parity in her team, but she appointed four women to the six vice-presidencies.
The President of the European executive had an appointment at the French headquarters of the European Parliament to present the new college. The European Parliament plays an important role in the nomination process, since each Commissioner-designate will have to pass a hearing before the MEPs before their official designation.
Ursula von der Leyen sought to form a commission “balanced” between genders, but also geographically, she stressed to the press, after an interview with the leaders of the Parliament. She had asked the member states to propose two candidates, one man and one woman, but few had respected the instruction.
In the end, the college has 11 women out of 27 (including von der Leyen), or 40% women. “When I received the nominations (from the member states), there were 22% women. This was completely unacceptable”she said. Talks were then initiated with some governments to propose a candidate. “This shows that there is still a lot of work to be done.” to achieve equality, said Ms von der Leyen.
The new college has six executive vice-presidents, including four women. A way of giving the latter more weight, according to the president.
A vice-president from a populist party
One of the vice-presidents, Italian Raffaele Fitto, is currently minister for European affairs in the government of far-right leader Giorgia Meloni. If confirmed in the hearings by MEPs, he will be the first member of a far-right populist party to become vice-president of the European Commission.
The other vice-presidents are Spain’s Teresa Ribera (clean, just and competitive transition), Finland’s Henna Virkkunen (technological sovereignty, security, democracy), France’s Stéphane Séjourné (prosperity and industrial strategy), Romania’s Roxana Mînzatu (people, skills, preparedness) and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas (high representative for foreign affairs). The latter had already been chosen by the heads of state last June.
Among the 20 other “simple” commissioners, the Belgian Hadja Lahbib will be responsible for crisis management and equality.
The presentation of the college is an important moment for the legislature that is starting, since it allows the Commission’s priorities for the coming years to be revealed.
Competitiveness will be the backdrop to the policy pursued, Ursula von der Leyen stressed. “Together, we have defined fundamental priorities. They are built around prosperity, security, democracy. The backdrop is competitiveness in the dual transition.”she said.
Hadja Lahbib called upon to organise EU contribution to crisis management
With “the state of preparedness and crisis management”, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib was offered by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen a portfolio dealing with near and far wars, population displacements, natural disasters (earthquakes) or more regular and intense climatic disasters (forest fires, droughts or floods), or even epidemics and food crises. The former journalist from a Kabyle family also receives the equality portfolio.
“It’s a portfolio that will look at resilience, preparedness and civil protection”commented Ursula von der Leyen during her presentation to the press, focusing the Belgian’s work on crisis management and humanitarian aid.
As important as it is, this portfolio appears less politically sensitive than that of Justice and the Rule of Law, which was entrusted to Didier Reynders, who was tasked with trying to channel authoritarian and illiberal leaders within the EU.
Asked about this, the German replied that Hadja Lahbib had “solid experience in foreign affairs”. “This portfolio reflects the political career she has had. She is the right candidate.”.
EU humanitarian aid is an annual budget of €1.8 billion, provided in more than 110 countries through partnerships with UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs. It is based in particular on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, which helps a State in an emergency situation, as is the case in Ukraine since 2022.
European aid also remains essential in Gaza, where it is questioned by Israel, which is very critical of the UN agency UNRWA. Sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), constitute other theatres of European humanitarian aid.
Equality
In these critical contexts, the majority of the EU humanitarian budget is allocated to projects that respond to the needs of people displaced by conflict, and the communities hosting them.
Active since 1992, EU humanitarian aid has been strengthened in recent years. It is organized in particular through an intervention capacity, set up in 2022 to increase the forces of the “EU Civil Protection Mechanism”, in the event of insufficient capacities. A European Solidarity Corps offers volunteering opportunities in the humanitarian field.
The heart of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism is located in Brussels, at the “Emergency Response Coordination Centre”. This mechanism has been used for example for evacuations in Afghanistan (2021), repatriations during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021), or during hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean (2017).
The EU also has its own European reserve of capabilities, called rescEU, with a fleet of helicopters and water bombers, medical evacuation planes, field hospitals, etc.
The other area of expertise of the Belgian candidate is equality. “There is still a lot of work to be done”stressed the German, who in recent weeks has been faced with the refusal of many Member States to respond to her request to propose enough candidates to achieve gender parity in the Commission college.
In her outgoing college, Ursula von der Leyen had nevertheless focused on consolidating the EU with five strategies in 2020 and 2021, covering LGBTIQ equality, gender equality, the rights of people with disabilities, the fight against racism and the inclusion of Roma. These strategies are coordinated within a specific working group.
