At a press conference on Tuesday morning the president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen announced which portfolios will be given to each of the (candidate) commissioners that have been nominated by the governments of their respective member states. The woman put forward by Belgium to take a position in the European Commission is the Francophone liberal politician Hadja Lahbib. She is currently foreign minister in Belgium’s outgoing federal government.
If she makes it through a hearing in the European Parliament, the former journalist will take on responsibility for the EU’s policies with relation to humanitarian aid and crisis management. The European Union has large-scale aid projects, for example to assist the victims of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. In addition to this the EU keeps a close eye on conflicts the world over to ensure that human rights and international law are being respected.
As the commissioner with responsibility for crisis management Ms Lahbib will also, on occasion, be required to come to fore within Europe if and when a crisis arises that has an impact on the population here. Her Slovenian predecessor Janez Lenarčič played an important role in the coordination of the European task force during the coronavirus crisis.
What does European Commission do?
The European Commission is one of the most important European political institutions. The Commission drafts bills that are then put before the European Parliament and then before the representatives of the governments of the 27 member states in the European Council.
Each of the 27 member states has 1 European Commissioner. Each commissioner is responsible for a well-defined area of policy. The commissioners are not elected. They are put forward by the governments of their respective member states.
Not yet certain
Ms Lahbib is not yet 100% certain that she will become a European Commissioner. Each candidate commissioner must attend an individual hearing in the European Parliament where MEPs have the opportunity to test their knowledge and ability. One of Ms Habib’s predecessors as a candidate for the position of crisis management and humanitarian aid commissioner failed at the hearing and was unable to become a commissioner.
Hadja Lahbib is relatively new to politics. She was appointed Belgian Foreign Minister just 2 years ago. Previously she had been a journalist and was a news anchor for the Francophone public broadcaster RTBF.