Promoting protection during the Belgian EU Presidency

On 1 January, Belgium assumed the 6-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU for the thirteenth time. Under the banner “Protect, strengthen, prepare”, Belgium presided over the meetings of the Council and its preparatory bodies: determining agendas, setting the work programme and facilitating dialogue within the Council and with the other EU Institutions.

“The Belgian Presidency set out an ambitious programme in the face of unprecedented global humanitarian needs. Numerous complex crises at home and abroad, including conflicts, climate emergencies, and the lasting socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, are negatively impacting the health, livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people”, stresses Philippe Vandekerckhove, CEO of Belgian Red Cross-Flanders. “Over the last six months, we have worked with our authorities to promote protection and rights-oriented solutions.”

Like other National Societies, the Belgian Red Cross occupies a unique role as auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field. As a private and independent organisation with recognised public functions that are enshrined in law, it has a distinctive partnership with the Belgian authorities; supplementing or substituting for public humanitarian and social services, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

During the Belgian Presidency, the Belgian Red Cross seized the opportunity to help shape the EU agenda and reinforce relationships with decision-makers. Concretely, this ranged from briefing the Council and its preparatory bodies and influencing Council Conclusions, to co-organising events with the Presidency and participating in its expert meetings. These humanitarian diplomacy efforts focussed on themes linked to asylum and migration, health, humanitarian aid, international humanitarian law and social inclusion.

“In collaboration with Movement partners, we shared our operational insight and expertise to foster dialogue and advance principled and effective humanitarian action that meets the needs and improves the lives of people experiencing vulnerability”, says Guy Richelle, Chief Executive Officer of the humanitarian services of the Croix-Rouge de Belgique-Communauté francophone. “The broad scope of our engagement is testament both to the hardships too many people continue to endure, and the breadth of activities that we have developed in response.”

Some examples:

• Presentations of Red Cross work at the Council Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid (COHAFA) with regards to crisis modifiers, enhancing humanitarian access and protection in Burkina Fasso, advancing the localisation agenda and dealing with growing digital threats.  
• Input to the Presidency drafting team for Council Conclusions on Protection.
• Visit by Justice and Home Affairs Councillors and European Commission representatives to a Belgian Red Cross reception centre for asylum seekers and roundtable discussion on good practices in reception.
• Red Cross webinar for members of the Council Working Party on Public International Law (COJUR) and Member State delegations to the UN on protection of persons in disasters, and event to mark the 75^th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions with COJUR members and NATO legal advisers.
• Participation in a wide range of events and discussions organised by the Presidency, such as its conferences on ending homelessness, on advancing the social economy and on supporting social work, as well as events related to global health and health equity, or large-scale evacuations in disaster response.

This intensive but time-bound engagement fits into a “Trio approach” coordinated by the Red Cross EU Office: much like the EU Member States themselves, the Belgian Red Cross works closely with counterparts at the Spanish Red Cross and the Hungarian Red Cross, whose governments also form part of the ongoing Council trio. Regular exchanges on plans and priorities aim to ensure cohesion, continuity, and sustainability of Red Cross action across Presidencies.