Brussels, 06/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - Louis Michel, Commissioner-designate for development cooperation and humanitarian aid in the Barroso Commission, carried off his hearing on Wednesday at the European Parliament with flying colours showing great self-assurance. In his view, hearings are an unavoidable exercise for seeking the necessary legitimacy with an institution that, he assures, he has every intention of "listening to". "Europe needs what it takes to make a difference in a democracy: the political resolve to give politics primacy. We are not here for ourselves but for the citizens. Hearings are a sign of legitimacy. It is a first and useful stage", he said.
Energy, strength of conviction, sometimes brusque impatience and a taste for confrontation from which progress springs were all there in the responses by this former Belgian Foreign Minister, whose competence and experience were on many occasions welcomed as being particularly suited to the portfolio incumbent upon him. His first words left no doubt as to his resolve to work for independent development policy and humanitarian aid policy, which each have their own objective, without the pitfalls of "exploitation in the name of pragmatism or political efficiency". This idea was already the watchword of his written responses to MEPs in preparation for the hearing and will be the key theme running through a mandate that he affirms he personally asked for. "I asked to be responsible for development. I did not ask for anything else", he confirmed, replying in advance to those who would have been tempted to ask whether he might have preferred the foreign affairs portfolio. In all his answers to MEPs, who were concerned about whether he would have the power to successfully carry out his mission given the way portfolios have been fragmented within the Commission for various chapters under one and the same competence, Louis Michel did not fall into the trap of trying to compete with his future colleagues. Relentlessly, Louis Michel urged in favour of close cooperation with Vice-President Benita Ferrero-Waldner, designated for the external relations portfolio, and Peter Mandelson, Commissioner-designate for trade, showing his "full confidence" in the quality of such cooperation with a central goal in mind: combating poverty and sustainable development for all through the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Louis Michel stressed that Europe can and must make a difference for the millions of people living in abject poverty. He recalled that the EU is now the largest fund donor (providing 55% of world flows of public development aid) and also the largest market for the developing countries. The aim is to ensure more peace, more security, more justice and more prosperity for all, but, for this, the EU must act as a single entity, not as twenty-five voices plus one, he stressed. Also, although development policy is a policy shared between the Commission and the Member States, one must not lose sight of the aim of a harmonisation strategy if one wants to become a global player. Louis Michel declared that he would fight against this and that he would need the others to convince their States that they should agree to transfer part of this sovereignty.
In his view, development policy is the most relevant and most effective instrument for facing up to the problem of global governance posed by the new threats of international terrorism and the marginalisation of poor countries resulting from uncontrolled globalisation. In this respect, the Cotonou Agreement, he believes, provides an exemplary framework for an integrated approach guaranteeing complementarity of development and security actions without, however, making the former a vassal to the latter.
There are, he believes, two vectors carrying the principle of "appropriation" of development policy by the partner countries, to which it is attached: - involvement of the civil society in political dialogue and priorities by rallying expertise where it exists: local initiatives, investors, NGOs, social partners. He stated he plans to strengthen the role of the trade unions in the rule of law and, on direct budgetary aid, he said opinions differ on this point but he remains convinced that this is the way to best achieve appropriation by partners.
The three other guiding principles cited by Louis Michel are: - the principle of coordination of policies between the Commission and the Member States for a true breakdown of work that so that comparative advantages of each may be used to their best advantage; - consistency in EU policies, which guarantees specific added value for each sectoral policy to the service of development policy: he assured that he would systematically question his colleagues with a transversal aim; - and transparency in the use of funds, together with a guarantee that means allocated to development aid will be protected. EDF budgetisation, he said, should contribute to this. He was confident the European Parliament - as a co-decision-maker in budgetary matters - would be able to help this along.
The Commissioner-designate urged just as vigorously for a specific and autonomous approach to humanitarian policy which should not, he said, be a way to win hearts and minds, or the subject of exploitation to military ends as humanitarian symbols cannot be confused with military uniforms without exposing humanitarian personnel to the risk of being taken as a target, and humanitarian aid to the risk of being hampered.
Louis Michel concluded his preliminary address by announcing his intention to propose a general redirected political framework for development policy which will be drawn up in association with the Parliament, the Commission and the civil society in the broadest sense of the term. He believes this is an opportunity to be seized in order to make development policy more popular to EU citizens once more, especially to young persons. The Commissioner specified in this respect, when answering several MEPs from the new Member States, that he planned among other things to visit the parliaments of the new Member States.
In response to Miguel Martinez Martinez (PES, Spain), who was delighted with his "strong personality" and with the quality of his ministerial achievements but concerned about his future autonomy from Ms Ferrero-Waldner, Louis Michel expressed his confidence in general interservice meetings between the relevant Commission DGs and within the Relex group, of which José Manuel Barroso and Benita Ferrero-Waldner will be the president and vice-president. He said there was no danger, that the system could naturally have been clearer but that he believes there will soon be an EU Foreign Minister and that things will then be clarified. In response to Louisa Morgantini (GUE, Italy), who chairs the development committee, Louis Michel confirmed that Ms Ferrero-Waldner will be responsible for Commission delegations in developing countries and for the implementation of Europaid and that he himself would take on the responsibility of programming. This, he repeated, is a system inherited from the past, but there will be Relex meetings. He went on to add that he will make a table of the way Europaid projects are being accomplished, a regular assessment tool of which they will be kept regularly informed.
Regarding how appropriate it is to make an upward review of the requirements of good governance in development policy in order to better use taxpayers' money, Louis Michel did not hide the fact, in his responses to Michael Gahler (EPP-Ed), Karl Dillen (Vlaamsblok) and Thierry Cornillet (ADLE, France), that he was not an out-and-out supporter of conditionality. He believed that one should keep political dialogue going with these countries. Budgetary aid could provide a stronger lever than strict conditionality, project by project, he said. When asked about mid-term review of the Millennium Goals, Louis Michel thought it would be appropriate and that it would demonstrate the EU's success, except, he added, regarding "our policy toward Africa which is lagging behind". In his view, re-dimensioning the political framework should be used for discussing the issue of refocusing on Africa. Showered with other questions, Louis Michel clearly stated he was in favour of establishing a tax of the "Tobin kind" at world level and also in favour of collaboration with NGOs, although he would not give them a blank cheque as their added value must be assessed on a case by case basis.
In response to Gay Mitchell (EPP-ED, Ireland), who asked whether he would make a firm commitment to ensure Member States keep the commitment they took to grant 0.79% of their GNP to public development aid, Louis Michel replied that he would do everything in his power but that the Commission does not have coercive means at its disposal. His response did not meet with the satisfaction of the MEP who was infuriated that, as he saw it, Louis Michel avoided questions put to him.
After the hearing, Miguel Angel Martinez, Socialist Coordinator for the Development Committee, and Jan Marinus Wiersma recommended that their group should support the Commissioner-designate.
"In general we are reasonably satisfied with Mr Michel's performance in the Hearing and we find his positions are correct in general on the main issues. However, we feel that on certain questions his answers have been too vague, and on some issues he showed a lack of substance and knowledge in matters for which he will be responsible", they said. They expressed concern about the "restricted responsibilities that Mr Michel will have in the new Commission structure" and insisted: "We fear that within this structure the Development portfolio will have too little room for manoeuvre to be able to deliver the essential policies that are urgently needed".
The ALDE group, for its part, welcomed the "energy and enthusiasm" with which Louis Michel spoke of closer cooperation with developing countries. According to ALDE leader Graham Watson: "The Commission-designate sent a clear message that he will tackle major challenges head on and will breathe new life into the EU's development policy. He set out a clear and ambitious strategy". Louis Michel is therefore practically guaranteed that, from Wednesday on, he will be confirmed in his future duties.