Hadja Lahbib given Humanitarian Aid portfolio in new European Commission
Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib will have the portfolio of Crisis Management, Humanitarian Aid and Equality in the new European Commission, president Ursula von der Leyen announced in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
The composition of the Commission had been awaited for weeks. Lahbib, Foreign minister in the federal government since 2022, will be responsible for crisis management at EU level, directing European humanitarian aid and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
“Her portfolio reflects her political career,” Von der Leyen told a press conference, praising Lahbib’s “solid experience” in foreign affairs. “Humanitarian aid is a global issue, but also look at the effects of climate change on our continent, such as floods and forest fires. [She] will also be responsible for preparing for these events.”
"We were able to bring the balance to 40 per cent women and 60 per cent men. It shows that we still have work to do"
Lahbib, of francophone liberals MR, was nominated as Belgium’s Commissioner by party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez. Giving MR the choice was agreed by the five parties seeking to form a new federal government.
Asked whether Lahbib’s party colleague and current Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders would have been given a more influential portfolio had he been nominated, Von der Leyen did not answer.
Von der Leyen had hoped to achieve gender parity in the new Commission. “When I received the first nominations and candidates, we were heading towards 22 per cent women and 78 per cent men. That was unacceptable,” she said.
“I went to work with the member states and we were able to bring the balance to 40 per cent women and 60 per cent men. It shows that we still have work to do.”
With that observation in mind, she reversed the gender balance in the distribution of executive vice-president posts, with four women and two men taking the positions.
They are Spain’s Teresa Ribera, Finland’s Henna Virkkunen, Romania’s Roxana Minzuta, Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, Italian Raffaele Fitto and France’s Stéphane Séjourné, who was only nominated on Monday after the surprise resignation of Thierry Breton.
The Commissioners-designate still have to be approved by the European Parliament.
Belgium's new European Commissioner, Hadja Lahbib © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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