‘Over my dead body’ – Humanitarian aid Commissioner about including her budget into the EEAS
Recently there have been indications from within the Commission about the possibility to include the humanitarian aid budget into the overall foreign policy umbrella. An anonymous Commission official who works in the Humanitarian sector has signalled on the 10th of February that on an informal level this merger is under consideration.
The context of these speculations is related to the upcoming Commission proposal (to come out in June 2011) on the future, i.e. post 2013, Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The reactions immediately followed. NGOs, MEPs and even Kristalina Georgieva, the Commissioner for Humanitarian aid, have criticised and vowed to block this initiative. Dutch Socialist MEP Thijs Berman has already announced that if the June proposal ends up containing this provision, he will fight it. More recently (17 February), Commissioner Georgieva declared in front of an audience in London that "it would be a very grave mistake for Europe to do" and used a phrase meant only to resonate her total disproval of such an idea – ‘over my dead body’.
Merging these budgets would essentially mean a politicization of humanitarian aid which would ‘make it much harder to be able to help people’. The example of the United States is evocable as an example for humanitarian aid being used as a geopolitical tool in a bigger foreign policy framework which decides who receives assistance and who doesn’t. In conclusion, this must be avoided and a prerequisite for this happening is maintaining neutrality over humanitarian aid and development oriented funds.
Click here to read the article:EU aid chief: merger with foreign policy 'over my dead body', (EUobsever).
Click here to read the article: Outcry at EU plan to mix aid and foreign policy , (EUobsever).
