By Eva Donelli
After months of negotiations with European Union member states over the composition of the bloc’s executive branch following May’s parliamentary elections, European Commission President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker finally confirmed Wednesday the two new faces of EU aid.
Croatian Neven Mimica will become international cooperation and development commissioner, replacing Andris Piebalgs. Christos Stylianides from Cyprus, meanwhile, will take over the humanitarian aid and crisis management portfolio from Kristalina Georgieva, who becomes the new Commission vice president for budget and human resources.
The twin appointments of Mimica and Stylianides — who will shape EU development cooperation and humanitarian aid policy for the next five year Commission term — follow last week’s designation of Federica Mogherini, Italy's recently appointed foreign affairs minister, to succeed Catherine Ashton as high representative and head of the EU External Action Service.
According to a draft roster of new commissioners leaked Sept. 2, Corina Creţu from Romania was poised to secure the humanitarian aid office, while development was set to go to Slovakia’s Maroš Šefčovič, a current Commission vice president and commissioner for interinstitutional relations and administration. However, well-placed sources told Devex that Šefčovič's “perceived demotion” to development “didn't go down well” in Bratislava.
‘Great opportunity’ to strengthen EU aid policyPriorities
Ending extreme poverty
So what do we know about the new leaders?
Mimica is a social democrat who has served as European commissioner for consumer protection since July 2013. After studying economics in Zagreb, he began a diplomatic career in Cairo and Ankara, before becoming Croatia’s deputy prime minister for foreign affairs and European integration in 2001. A year before that, the diplomat received his first EU-related post as chief negotiator for the Stabilization and Association Agreement and led his country’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization. In 2004, he was elected as a member of parliament as part of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, where he has chaired the European Integration Committee.
Both commissioners are expected to coordinate very closely with EU foreign policy chief Mogherini. Mimica in particular “has a big responsibility to make sure that development does not become second best to foreign policy interests,” noted Sabine Terlecki, head of policy and advocacy at CONCORD, the confederation of European relief and development NGOs.Meanwhile, Stylianides belongs to the conservative European People’s Party as a member of the European Parliament. A former MP in his native Cyprus from 2006 to 2013 and government spokesman, as an MEP he sits on two committees: budget; and industry, research and energy. Stylianides is also part of the EU delegations for relations with the United States and Israel.
“There’s a great opportunity to improve coherence and coordination between the different institutions and directorates in the new Commission,” Terlecki added.
In the new commissioners' mission letters, sent Wednesday, Juncker highlighted a number of priorities for each of them to focus on during their mandate.
For EU international cooperation and development policy, the priorities include negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and for a revised Cotonou Agreement, respect for human rights, good governance and gender equality in the dialogue and assistance programs.
Mimica and Stylianides have also been tasked with enhancing the bloc’s contribution to international cooperation and development; to further coordinate policies, strengthen the EU’s strategic partnership with Africa; and to work closely with commissioners responsible for other cross-cutting policies to ensure that policies are consistent with development goals.
Furthermore, Juncker wants Stylianides to maximize the impact of EU humanitarian aid efforts and collaborate with his predecessor Georgieva to ensure that any commitments made can be financed. He also wants to ensure sound and performance-based management of the budget for humanitarian aid and crisis management.
“Mimica has a golden opportunity to … help developing countries to lift themselves out of poverty,” Tamira Gunzburg, acting director at the ONE Campaign in Brussels, said in a statement welcoming the appointments. “2015, the European Year for Development, is a great occasion for the future commissioner to show the EU’s commitment to end the injustice of extreme poverty,” she stressed.
The new EU development chief himself reacted to his designation on social media.
“I am honored to be nominated commissioner for international cooperation and development in the Juncker team and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead,” Mimica wrote on Twitter a few minutes after his appointment.
If confirmed following parliamentary hustings in October, the new European Commission will take office on Nov. 1.
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