Appearing relaxed, the Commissioner-designate for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, seems to have convinced MEPs during his hearing in the European Parliament on Wednesday 2 October.
Responding to 24 questions from the Parliamentary Development Committee (DEVE) and the Environment Committee (ENVI), the Slovenian candidate pledged to defend the right to humanitarian aid and repeatedly stressed the importance of prevention.
"As Commissioner for Crisis Management as well as European Emergency Response Coordinator, my 1st goal will be to support people in need rapidly and efficiently, in full respect for humanitarian principles." he said in his preliminary intervention.
And he continued, "I will firmly urge the preservation of humanitarian space. It is unacceptable that humanitarian actors are increasingly being targeted and their access to people in need regularly blocked!"
This commitment led Erik Marquardt (Greens/EFA, Germany) to point out to him that it was sometimes not necessary to look very far to find examples of opposition to the work of humanitarian organisations, probably referring to the arrest of the captain of the ship Sea Watch 3, Carola Rackete, in late June in Italy, for having landed migrants saved off Libya without authorisation (see EUROPE 12288/16).
Agreeing with him, Mr. Lenarčič replied that, in his view, humanitarian action should never be subject to criminal sanctions, while regretting that this did not seem "self-evident" everywhere.
The Slovenian candidate also called on MEPs to support the 30% increase in the humanitarian aid budget proposed by the Commission under the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (see EUROPE 12013/1). "This is an essential element in achieving our ambitious agenda over the next five years and beyond", he assured them.
Respect for the principle of impartiality. In a similar desire to defend the right to humanitarian aid, the potential future Commissioner for Crisis Management has also reiterated the importance he attaches to respect for the principle of impartiality.
Responding to a question from Hungarian MEP György Hölvényi (EPP) on the situation in Syria, in which he stressed the particular need to help the country's Christian minorities, Mr Lenarčič argued that humanitarian aid should be provided wherever it is needed, regardless of beliefs or other considerations.
In order to reassure Charles Goerens (Renew Europe, Luxembourg), who recommended that he "defend tooth and nail" the principle of impartiality if he were to be attacked, the Slovenian then declared that this principle constituted "a sine qua non for humanitarian aid".
Fight against the environmental crisis. Mr. Lenarčič obviously did not escape questions related to global warming and, more specifically, Members' questions on how he intends to respond to increasingly frequent and violent natural disasters.
On this point, the Commissioner-designate for Crisis Management highlighted the importance of prevention and adaptation, in particular by setting up the European Green Deal promoted by the President-elect, Ursula von der Leyen. He acknowledged that the Commissioners will face the major challenge of working together, as without cooperation, the Green Deal cannot be effectively implemented.
In this respect, he assured that, in the event that his application was accepted, he would be part of the "cluster" of Commissioners working closely together on environmental issues within the future Commission.
He also undertook to work with EU partners at the United Nations to ensure that a working definition of climate displaced persons is developed. Indeed, questioned by Mónica Silvana González (S&D, Spain) about the lack of legal status in this field, he considered that the term "climate refugee" was in any case inappropriate, because according to the Geneva Convention, a refugee is a person who flees his country, which is not the case for all "climate displaced" people.
Role of the private sector. Asked by Joanna Kopcińska (ECR, Poland) about the role he believes the private sector should have in humanitarian aid, Mr. Lenarčič expressed support for its involvement, as without the private sector, humanitarian aid and, more broadly, the Green Deal could suffer from a lack of financial resources.
Nevertheless, he stressed that this should not be at the expense of the principles governing humanitarian aid. He added: "Humanitarian aid is a noble mission, it must never become a commercial activity".
Promote local resilience. Mr. Lenarčič also highlighted several times the need to work with local organizations by including them in the humanitarian aid process.
Finally, he has also repeatedly assured that he will work closely with his potential future colleague in International Partnerships, Finland's Jutta Urpilainen, also responsible for Development, to ensure the development of countries, in particular in education, and so that EU assistance is only temporary. In this area, he called for work to be done to establish a link between humanitarian work, development and peace ('a humanitarian-development-peace nexus').
In conclusion, the Commissioner-designate praised the merits of the European Union Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) "A few years ago, [Henry] Kissinger asked: what is Europe's phone number? When it comes to emergency response, here's the number!", he said to the MEPs, brandishing a sign with the ERCC number amidst laughter and applause. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)