European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Irish EU Affairs Committee Dublin, 8 October 2026 It is a pleasure to be with you during Ireland's Presidency at an important moment for Europe and for the security of our citizens. Earlier this year I was in Goma, in eastern Congo. I met families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but their story is part...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Irish EU Affairs Committee Dublin, 8 October 2026 It is a pleasure to be with you during Ireland's Presidency at an important moment for Europe and for the security of our citizens. Earlier this year I was in Goma, in eastern Congo. I met families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but their story is part of a much bigger picture. Around 130 conflicts are active today, more than double fifteen years ago. Nearly 240 million people need humanitarian aid this year. If they were a country, it would be one of the largest in the world. Conflict drives about 70% of these needs and increasingly aid itself is being used as a weapon of war. Roads are blocked, convoys are stopped, food and medicine are kept from the people who need them. The system is under pressure. International humanitarian law is treated like a buffet table: take what you like, leave the rest. Funding cuts are making everything harder. But Europe is standing firm. Together, as Team Europe, we remain one of the world's largest humanitarian donors. Reliable. Predictable. Principled. Our focus is clear: protect aid workers and humanitarian access, make aid work better, and bring more partners on board, including the private sector. Today I will focus on humanitarian diplomacy, the next EU budget, and how we prepare Europe for a more dangerous world. I have seen what humanitarian diplomacy can achieve in Africa, Ukraine, the Middle East, and Latin America. In the darkest corners of the world, it can still open a road, lift a checkpoint, and get food and medicine to people who have lost everything. In the Great Lakes region, I sat down with presidents, ministers, and AFC/M23. When lives are at stake, we must speak to those who hold the keys. My message was the same everywhere: respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians, protect aid workers, and let aid through. That diplomacy delivered results. With today's tight budgets, we are also making every euro go further. We are cutting duplication in humanitarian supply chains. Every euro saved on logistics is a euro spent on bread or medicine for a child. We must also stay engaged in fragile countries. Fragility spills across borders. We feel its consequences through hunger, disease, conflict, displacement, and radicalisation. That is why humanitarian, development, and peace efforts must go hand in hand, alongside international financial institutions, the private sector, and our Member States. We must also keep aid workers safe. The law protects them, yet they are arrested, kidnapped, and deliberately targeted. Last year was the deadliest on record: more than 300 killed. Next week, with Minister Richmond, we will co-chair a conference on protecting aid workers. We will look at what works and where we must do more. To deliver all this, we need the means. The next EU budget will determine how Europe engages with the world. Under the Commission's proposal, Global Europe includes €25 billion for humanitarian aid. We must keep this ambition, and the Irish Presidency has a crucial role in these negotiations. A strong and predictable humanitarian budget is vital. Humanitarian aid is a moral responsibility, but it is also an investment in our own security and stability. It can stop crises from spreading, reduce forced displacement, and help contain epidemics. I saw this in June in Bunia, at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak. Local health workers knew how to fight the virus, but the tools came too late. Testing and work on vaccines was too slow. This is the price of years of underinvestment in public health. If we do not act, the next outbreak could be another disease in another place. The cost is modest. Just over 1% of the EU budget, less than 50 cents per citizen per month. Over a whole year, it is the price of a cup of coffee. Conflict, climate change, and disease drive humanitarian needs abroad. But Europe is increasingly exposed too. We face wildfires, floods, cyber-attacks, hybrid threats, and disinformation. Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average. This was the hottest summer ever recorded in Western Europe. Almost 700,000 hectares burned in the EU this year. Imagine one tenth of Ireland reduced to ashes. In France, wildfires triggered the largest evacuation since the Second World War. Today the threats are changing. Drones are appearing in our skies. This summer, a drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig airport. And who knows what Artificial Intelligence will bring. We can no longer wait for a crisis to hit before we prepare. That is why last year we launched our EU Preparedness Strategy. The idea is simple: prepare before the alarm sounds, get the whole of society involved, and act faster. We call it "preparedness by design." Before we spend a euro or design a policy, we ask two questions. Does this make Europe stronger? Will it still work under pressure? We have adopted strategies on stockpiling, medical countermeasures, and water resilience. We have a Democracy Shield against disinformation, and we are expanding our rescEU medical reserves. Later this year, we will publish our Comprehensive Risk and Threat Assessment. For the first time, security threats, natural hazards, technological risks, and health threats will be on one map. Our Member States face different threats, so they prepare differently. But every European should be able to count on a basic level of readiness. That is why we are proposing EU Minimum Preparedness Requirements to support Member States who remain the first responders in any crisis. Later this year, we will give people practical guidance on how to cope for at least 72-hours in an emergency. Ireland is already leading by example with your Be Emergency Ready booklet. European leadership is a choice. It is the choice to stand by families like those I met in Goma. It is the choice to make sure our families are protected when crisis strikes. Ireland's Presidency will play a vital role in both: defending a strong humanitarian budget and helping build a Europe that is ready for any crisis. That will make Europe safer. It will make Ireland safer. SPEECH/26/2117 <@rel_link@>
Speech Brief