Kristalina Georgieva passed her European Parliament Development and Crisis Response Committee hearing with such flying colours, on 3 February, that several MEPs gave up the chance to ask her questions, opting instead to offer congratulations on her new job. The commissioner-designate for the humanitarian aid and crisis response portfolio gave a relaxed and confident performance, making no major mistakes. She was received warmly by MEPs, who appeared relieved by her qualifications. The previous candidate, Rumiana Jeleva, pulled out after an unimpressive hearing.

HAITI

The future commissioner referred throughout the ‘job interview’ to the EU’s response to the earthquake in Haiti. She tackled controversial subjects, such as the EU’s visibility and lessons to learn from the ongoing relief operation.

Georgieva cited the importance of critically assessing performance. She was careful to celebrate the EU’s significant contribution, but added it could still improve external communication and coordination.

“I think there is still more room for a more coordinated response. There are good reasons this was the situation there, but we can still learn from what happened,” she insisted.

She then noted, however, how recommendations from the Asian tsunami assessment have successfully been applied in Haiti, notably the availability of pre-positioned stocks of aid supplies, which were quickly delivered. “We didn’t have to fly them in from Europe and that helped very much,” she noted.

Although Georgieva said she considered military intervention in humanitarian crises to be a “last resort,” the subject of Haiti led her to concede it might sometimes be needed. “It has to be done very carefully because once you do it, you can’t undo it,” she warned. But she said her meetings with future colleagues at DG ECHO had convinced her that the US military presence in Haiti had been necessary because “there was no other way”.

Georgieva stressed prevention as a way to achieve effective humanitarian contributions, which furthermore prove cheaper than responding to crises after the event. “The evidence is overwhelming that prevention is critical and preparedness is essential and actually pays for itself, so it is actually good for the European taxpayer as well,” she said.

VISIBILITY

The commissioner-designate responded diplomatically to concerns about communicating the EU’s humanitarian efforts abroad. In Haiti, she noted, “the communication was, shall we say, slightly underwhelming”. She underlined her concern was to “make our European citizens proud” at the achievement made on their behalf.

In response to a question about whether she would be prepared to start a blog or twitter feed on her activities to promote the EU’s visibility, she responded “both” to the delight of the MEPs. “I think twitter is actually a very powerful tool,” she said, before adding she would have to learn how to use it.