Legislation
Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force, the European Union humanitarian aid action is ruled by Article 214 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union. Humanitarian aid is a shared parallel competency: this means that the Union conducts an autonomous policy, which neither prevents the Member States from exercising their competences nor makes the Union’s policy merely “complementary” to those of the Member States.
Until then, humanitarian aid was based, by default, on Article 179 of the EC Treaty (development policy). It used to be part of the Commissioner for Development's portfolio, first Louis Michel and then Karel de Gucht during the Barroso Commission I. The Lisbon Treaty introduced, for the first time, humanitarian aid as a policy in its own right in the EC Treaty. Since February 2010, humanitarian aid is managed by a dedicated Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva.
As defined in article 214 TFEU, the EU's operations in the field of humanitarian aid are intended to provide ad hoc assistance and relief for people in third countries who are victims of natural or man-made disasters. Article 214 TFEU also reiterates the principles of humanitarian aid, these being respect for international law and the principles of impartiality, neutrality and non-discrimination.
The Lisbon Treaty introduces a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (Article 214 of the Treaty on the functioning of the EU), which young Europeans wishing to participate in humanitarian action can join.
Read more about this topic: ECHO (European Commission)
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“The conservative assumes sickness as a necessity, and his social frame is a hospital, his total legislation is for the present distress, a universe in slippers and flannels, with bib and papspoon, swallowing pills and herb-tea.”
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