European Commissioner for Crisis Management

The Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Christos Stylianides.

The portfolio deals with the distribution of aid; the European Commission is the largest supplier of humanitarian aid in the world.

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. [1]

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. [2] 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.

List of commissioners

	Name	Country	Period	Commission
1	Robert Lemaignen	France	1958–1962	Hallstein Commission
2	Henri Rochereau	France	1962–1970	Hallstein Commission, Rey Commission
3	Jean-François Deniau	France	1967–1973	Rey Commission, Malfatti Commission, Mansholt Commission
4	Claude Cheysson	France	1973–1981	Ortoli Commission, Jenkins Commission, Thorn Commission
5	Edgard Pisani	France	1981–1985	Thorn Commission
6	Lorenzo Natali	Italy	1985–1989	Delors Commission I
7	Manuel Marin	Spain	1989–1995	Delors Commission II & III
8	João de Deus Pinheiro	Portugal	1995–1999	Santer Commission
9	Poul Nielson	Denmark	1999–2004	Prodi Commission
10	Joe Borg	Malta	2004	Prodi Commission
11	Louis Michel	Belgium	2004–2009	Barroso Commission I
12	Karel De Gucht	Belgium	2009–2010	Barroso Commission I
13	Kristalina Georgieva	Bulgaria	2010-2014	Barroso Commission II
14	Christos Stylianides	Cyprus	2014-Present	Juncker Commission

See also

• ACP-EU Development Cooperation
• ECHO
• EuropeAid Co-operation Office
• European Development Fund

External links

• Commissioner's website
• Commission Development website
• Commission Humanitarian Aid website