European Commissioner for Crisis Management explained

Post:European Commissioner for Crisis Management
Incumbent:Janez Lenarčič
Incumbentsince:1 December 2019
Appointer:President of the European Commission
Inaugural:Robert Lemaignen
Formation:1958

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. The post is currently held by Janez Lenarčič.

The portfolio deals with the distribution of aid; the European Commission is the largest supplier of humanitarian aid in the world, accounting for more than 50 percent of aid distributed in 140 countries.[1] The Commissioner oversees a total of 140 international humanitarian experts as well as 44 field offices in 39 countries, which are staffed by 320 local members.[2] The Civil Protection mechanism of the Commission means that the position also covers the European Union's disaster response. It provides support if a member state requests aid after a natural disaster. This function has adopted a wider scope in recent years as the Commission increasingly becomes an instrument of support around the world.[3] For example, the Commission provided aid to Morocco when the country was hit by an earthquake in February 2004. More than 1,000 aid workers were also dispatched to the United States after 11 September 2001 terrorist attack.

Although humanitarian aid and civil protection falls within the same Commission and administered by the same Commissioner, each has separate strategy document.[4] In recent years, however, there is a focus on increased complementarity and synergy between the humanitarian aid approaches and civil protection expertise and assets.[5]

Louis Michel as commissioner

After the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in 2006 the Commissioner visited Lebanon and called for €30 million to repair the damage there. The Parliament's development committee was cautious though about the expenditure and he was also criticised for his slow response with one MEP comparing him to "a fireman who arrives at the scene after the fire has gone out". In the same debate MEPs attacked the Commissioner for "appearing partial in the Congolese elections" in describing Joseph Kabila as "the hope of Congo". Michel responded by saying he would have said the same about any candidate in the democratic elections. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/028-10126-240-08-35-903-20060828IPR10123-28-08-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm

Louis Michel has caused some mild controversy in 2007 among MEPs when it became known that he is to take leave from his work to compete in Belgian elections. Generally Commissioners are meant to remain above national politics and the European Parliament's development committee asked the Parliament's legal service to assess if his participation violates the treaties. http://www.europeanvoice.com/current/article.asp?id=27791 During his absence (12 May 2007 onwards), Commissioner Rehn will take over his duties.

His head of cabinet is Sabine Weyand, deputy head; Koen Doens and spokesperson; Amadeu Altafaj-Tardio.

European Medical Corps

The European Medical Corps (EMC) is a civilian incident response team that was launched on 15 February 2016 by the European Union to provide an emergency response force to deal with outbreaks of epidemic disease anywhere in the world.[6] The EMC was formed after the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa when the WHO was criticized for a slow and insufficient response in the early stages of the Ebola outbreak.[7]

The framework for the European Medical Corps is part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism's new European Emergency Response Capacity (otherwise known as the 'voluntary pool').

The EMC is part of the emergency response capacity of European countries.[8] Teams from nine EU member states—Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden – are available for deployment in an emergency. The EMC consists of medical teams, public health teams, mobile biosafety laboratories, medical evacuation capacities, experts in public health and medical assessment and coordination, and technical and logistics support.[9] Any country in need of assistance can make a request to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, part of the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department.[10]

The first deployment of the EMC was announced by the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection on 12 May 2016, a response to the outbreak of yellow fever in Angola in 2016.[11] An earlier concept of an emergency medical response team was Task Force Scorpio formed by the United Nations during the first Gulf War.

List of commissioners

NameCountryPeriodCommission
1Robert Lemaignen1958–1962Hallstein Commission
2Henri Rochereau1962–1970Hallstein Commission, Rey Commission
3Jean-François Deniau1967–1973Rey Commission, Malfatti Commission, Mansholt Commission
4Claude Cheysson1973–1981Ortoli Commission, Jenkins Commission, Thorn Commission
5Edgard Pisani1981–1985Thorn Commission
6Lorenzo Natali1985–1989Delors Commission I
7Manuel Marín1989–1995Delors Commission II & III
8João de Deus Pinheiro1995–1999Santer Commission
9Poul Nielson1999–2004Prodi Commission
10Joe Borg2004Prodi Commission
11Louis Michel2004–2009Barroso Commission I
12Karel De Gucht2009–2010Barroso Commission I
13Kristalina Georgieva2010–2014Barroso Commission II
14Christos Stylianides2014–2019Juncker Commission
15Janez Lenarčič2019–presentVon der Leyen Commission

See also

References

  1. Book: Larsen, Finn. Historical Dictionary of the European Union. Rowman & Littlefield. 2016. 9781442255142. Lanham. 119.
  2. Laursen, p. 119.
  3. Book: The European Union as Crisis Manager: Patterns and Prospects. Boin. Arjen. Ekengren. Magnus. Rhinard. Mark. Cambridge University Press. 2013. 9781107035799. Cambridge. 73.
  4. Book: DARA. The Humanitarian Response Index 2011: Addressing the Gender Challenge. DARA. 2011. 9788461576265. Madrid. 104.
  5. DARA, p. 104.
  6. Web site: European Commission – PRESS RELEASES – Press release – EU launches new European Medical Corps to respond faster to emergencies. europa.eu. 13 May 2016.
  7. Moon . Suerie . Suerie Moon . etal . 28 November 2015 . Will Ebola change the game? Ten essential reforms before the next pandemic. The report of the Harvard-LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola . The Lancet . en . 386 . 10009 . 2204–2221 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00946-0 . 7137174 . 26615326 . 13 May 2016 . free.
  8. Web site: European Emergency Response Capacity – Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection – European Commission. Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. 13 May 2016.
  9. Web site: European Medical Corps part of the European Emergency Response Capacity. 13 May 2016. 27 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170127224228/http://dppi.info/sites/default/files/DG_ECHO_European_Medical_Corps.pdf. dead.
  10. Web site: Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection – European Commission. Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. 13 May 2016.
  11. Web site: EU sends new medical corps team to Angola yellow fever outbreak. EurActiv.com. 13 May 2016. en-GB.

External links