Janez Lenarčič, the Slovenian EU commissioner-designate, has been assigned the portfolio of crisis management in the next European Commission, as President-elect Ursula von der Leyen announced the distribution of posts.
As Von der Leyen announced, the job assigned to Lenarčič would correspond to the portfolio of humanitarian aid and crisis management in the outgoing commission, which has been the responsibility of the Cypriot Hristos Stilianides. Lenarčič, so far Slovenia’s ambassador to the EU, said that crisis management was a significant but demanding field of the EU’s work, involving the saving of lives and helping people in need. The department he will head is in charge of European civil protection and humanitarian aid, as part of which Lenarčič will have the role of the European coordinator for rapid response. He will be supported by the directorate general for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
“The number of people in need of help keeps increasing world-wide due to the consequences of ever more dramatic climate change and violent conflicts,” Lenarčič said, adding that growing humanitarian needs should be matched by proper and effectively applied funding. He believes that the portfolio he was entrusted with addresses a vital part of the EU’s response to topical global challenges, which call for sustainable, coordinated and innovative action by the EU and member countries. Lenarčič understands the portfolio assignment as an acknowledgement of Slovenia’s “strong tradition in providing humanitarian aid and civil protection”.