The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) was established in 1992. Its aim is to provide emergency assistance and relief to victims of natural or man made disasters or conflicts outside the EU. The aid is distributed by ECHO’s partners which are NGOs and humanitarian agencies of the UN. The European Commission DG ECHO is funded by the general EC budget and by the European Development Fund.
The Treaty of Lisbon introduces a specific legal basis for humanitarian aid. The new Article 214 provides that humanitarian aid operations will be conducted in observance with international law principles and with principles governing humanitarian actions impartiality, neutrality and non-discrimination. However, the Lisbon Treaty has not mentioned the principle of independence. Therefore, there are concerns among different NGOs that humanitarian response will be subject to political objectives.
This provision also provides for the creation of a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps to provide “a framework for joint contributions from young Europeans to the humanitarian aid operations of the Union.”
The European Commission has recently adopted a Communication entitled “How to express EU citizen's solidarity through volunteering: First reflections on a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps.” The Commission intends to set up the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, implementing, therefore, the Lisbon Treaty provision abovementioned.
The Commission is presently considering different options such as a "EU certification mechanism" for organisations who respect Brussels standards for the selection and training of volunteers or setting up “a fully-fledged volunteer scheme including selection, training, matching and deployment of volunteers", meaning a EU voluntary humanitarian aid corps.
The Commission is planning to put forward a legislative proposal in 2012. The rules and procedures for the operations of the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps will be determined by the Council acting by a QMV together with the European Parliament through the ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision procedure).
The EU should not set up such European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps as humanitarian response should be left for trained professionals. There is no need for yet another EU agency, particularly not one for humanitarian aid, since such aid is already provided by well-established non-governmental organisations and the United Nations. The EU will duplicate the work of this agencies and organisations.
