The new EU Humanitarian Strategy: are Efficiency and Coordination enough?
The strategy presented by the European Union does not appear to signal an intention to take over a leading role in the global aid system in place of the United States. Instead, it focuses on coordination, efficiency, and humanitarian diplomacy. Will that be enough?
10/06/2026
The European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs have presented a new strategy aimed at strengthening the EU’s humanitarian action in a context marked by increasingly numerous, protracted, and complex crises. The strategy is the focus of an article published by VITA and written by Francesco Crippa, which explores the implications of the European proposal through the contribution of Sandro De Luca, President of LINK 2007.
This discussion comes at a particularly delicate moment for the global aid system. The gradual disengagement of the United States and growing pressure on public budgets are testing the international community’s ability to respond to ever-increasing humanitarian needs.
According to Sandro De Luca’s analysis, the strategy presented by the European Union does not suggest an ambition to assume a leadership role in the aid system in place of the United States. Rather, it seeks to make better use of existing resources by strengthening coordination among humanitarian actors, improving the efficiency of interventions, and placing greater emphasis on humanitarian diplomacy.
However, this approach raises a number of important questions.
On the one hand, humanitarian diplomacy requires the ability to reconcile the different interests and priorities of EU Member States without compromising the principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence that must guide humanitarian action. As Sandro De Luca, President of LINK 2007, points out, “this means venturing into the realm of EU foreign policy, which lacks clarity.”
On the other hand, it is not only the reduction in funding that raises concerns. An increasingly critical issue is the growing unpredictability of humanitarian financing, which makes it more difficult to plan effective medium- and long-term interventions and limits humanitarian organisations’ ability to build sustainable responses to crises.
Within this scenario, a crucial question remains: will the approach outlined by the European Union be sufficient to address humanitarian needs that have reached unprecedented levels? Or will a greater degree of political and financial responsibility be required from European institutions and Member States?
The article published by VITA provides an important opportunity to explore these issues further and reflect on the future of international cooperation and European humanitarian action.
Read the full article here: Aiuti umanitari, l’Europa gioca in difesa: tanta prudenza, nessun fondo extra – Vita.it