BULGARIAN COMMISSIONER DESIGNATE SAILS THROUGH MEP HEARING

Kristalina Georgieva, a World Bank vice-president, confidently answered questions over three hours on a range of issues to do with humanitarian aid and disaster relief, the portfolio she is to take up once the new commission is approved.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgaria's EU commissioner designate sailed through a tame parliamentary hearing on Wednesday (3 February), ensuring that the vote on the investiture of the entire European Commission will take place next week.

Kristalina Georgieva, a World Bank vice-president, confidently answered questions over three hours on a range of issues to do with humanitarian aid and disaster relief, the portfolio she is to take up once the new commission is approved.

Starting the hearing, which saw questions on how she would deal with the humanitarian situations in Haiti, the Sudan, Burma, the Congo, Afghanistan and Gaza amongst others, she pledged to "strive to be a strong voice for those in dire need."

As the EU's face for dealing with the disaster-struck Haiti, where the death toll from the earthquake on 12 January is estimated to be around 150,000, the Bulgarian said the two priorities were to provide "immediate relief" and then "long-term development."

She picked up on the EU's recent preoccupation with its lack of visibility for its relief efforts, revived after the Haiti disaster, noting that what the EU had done so far for the island nation is "very impressive" but the communication of what it had done is "slightly underwhelming." She promised to follow up on what member states agree when they discuss the issue next week.

The Bulgarian, an economist by training, said she would "stand up" as an advocate for international humanitarian law, speak up when sexual violence is used as a war instrument, put more emphasis on disaster prevention and establish a European voluntary humanitarian corps.

She was most stretched on the role of the military in providing humanitarian aid, with MEPs asking her several times whether the military should ever be involved in civilian tasks. She spoke about the "difficulty" of the issue noting that sometimes the military was needed but that this would compromise both safety and neutrality of aid workers on the ground.

Questions about what to do with countries who refused aid access produced a nuanced answer about the need to improve situations all over the world but Israel's blockage of aid getting into the Gaza strip saw a robust response that Europe needs to "constantly tackle" the reasons why access cannot be given.

Several times the Bulgarian candidly admitted that she needed to "read up" certain aspects of her dossier, such as whether the EU had more instruments it could have used in the Haiti crisis. But the knives were never really out for her.

The hearing as a whole stood in marked contrast to that of Rumiana Jeleva, the previous Bulgarian commissioner designate who fell through the process last month on grounds of a lack of knowledge of the dossier and lack of clarity about her financial interests.

This session was peppered with laughter while questioners regularly complimented Ms Georgieva on her "intelligence" and "calm" attitude. One MEP remarked that he did not need to ask a question, suggesting instead the committee just proceed to the confirmation process.

On her surprise nomination to be commissioner after Ms Jeleva resigned amid bitter recriminations and controversy, Ms Georgieva said that "when the call came, I felt it was my duty."

Noting that climate action, development and humanitarian aid were the issues of most importance to her, she said of her new job that "my heart is there."

MEPs were purring with satisfaction by the end of the hearing but ensuring further goodwill, the Bulgarian said that it was the 89th birthday of her mother, who wanted her daughter to show her commitment to Europe.

Making a pledge to her mother in heavily accented French, Ms Georgieva said: "If my nomination is confirmed I will make an effort to learn French."

The Bulgarian is the last of the 26 commissioner designates to be heard by parliament. Her likely successful hearing means a plenary vote will take place on 9 February allowing the commission - out of action for three months due to a series of delays - to take up office next Wednesday (10 February) if approved.