President of the European Council

The President of the European Council is a position that was created by the Treaty of Lisbon. The President is the chairman of the European Council, which is the meeting of the leaders of all the member states.

Background

It's a very diplomatic figure, and it is not like a head of state: the President does not have any power to make decisions about the European Union. The Union has several other presidents, such as the president of the European Parliament and the president of the European Commission. However, the President of the European Council, casually but wrongly known as The President of Europe, is the face by which the European Union is known to the rest of the world. The more practical aspects of this task are the responsibility of the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Commissioner responsible for external affairs.

List of president

Rotating presidents (1975–2009)

 Year Period Office HolderEuropean party State 1975 Jan–Jun Liam CosgraveEuropean People's Party  Jul–Dec Aldo Moro European People's Party  1976 Jan–Jun Gaston Thorn Liberal and Democratic Group  Jul–Dec Joop den Uyl Party of European Socialists  1977 Jan–Jun James Callaghan Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Leo Tindemans European People's Party  1978 Jan–Jun Anker Jørgensen Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Helmut Schmidt Party of European Socialists  1979 Jan–Jun Valéry Giscard d'Estaing European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party  Jul–Dec Jack Lynch European Progressive Democrats  Dec Charles Haughey European Progressive Democrats 1980 Jan–Jun Francesco Cossiga European People's Party  Jul–Dec Pierre Werner European People's Party  1981 Jan–Jun Dries van Agt European People's Party  Jul–Dec Margaret Thatcher Independent   1982 Jan–Jun  Wilfried Martens European People's Party  Jul–Sep Anker Jørgensen Party of European Socialists  Sep–Dec  Poul Schlüter European People's Party 1983 Jan–Jun  Helmut Kohl European People's Party  Jul–Dec  Andreas Papandreou Party of European Socialists  1984 Jan–Jun  François Mitterrand Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec  Garret FitzGerald European People's Party  1985 Jan–Jun Bettino Craxi Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Jacques Santer European People's Party  1986 Jan–Jun Ruud Lubbers European People's Party  Jul–Dec Margaret Thatcher Independent   1987 Jan–Jun Wilfried Martens European People's Party  Jul–Dec Poul Schlüter European People's Party  1988 Jan–Jun Helmut Kohl European People's Party  Jul–Dec Andreas Papandreou Party of European Socialists  1989 Jan–Jun Felipe González Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec François Mitterrand Party of European Socialists  1990 Jan–Jun Charles Haughey European Democratic Alliance  Jul–Dec Giulio Andreotti European People's Party  1991 Jan–Jun Jacques Santer European People's Party  Jul–Dec Ruud Lubbers European People's Party  1992 Jan–Jun Aníbal Cavaco Silva European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party  Jul–Dec John Major Independent  1993 Jan Poul Schlüter European People's Party  Jan–Jun Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Party of European Socialists Jul–Dec Jean-Luc Dehaene European People's Party  1994 Jan–Jun Andreas Papandreou Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Helmut Kohl European People's Party  1995 Jan–May François Mitterrand Party of European Socialists  May–Jun Jacques Chirac Independent Jul–Dec Felipe González Party of European Socialists  1996 Jan–May Lamberto Dini European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party  May–Jun Romano Prodi Party of European Socialists Jul–Dec John Bruton European People's Party  1997 Jan–Jun Wim Kok Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Jean-Claude Juncker European People's Party  1998 Jan–Jun Tony Blair Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Viktor Klima Party of European Socialists  1999 Jan–Jun Gerhard Schröder Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Paavo Lipponen Party of European Socialists 2000 Jan–Jun António Guterres Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Jacques Chirac European People's Party 2001 Jan–Jun Göran Persson Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Guy Verhofstadt European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 2002 Jan–Jun José María Aznar European People's Party  Jul–Dec Anders Fogh Rasmussen European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 2003 Jan–Jun Costas Simitis Party of European Socialists  Jul–Dec Silvio Berlusconi European People's Party 2004 Jan–Jun Bertie Ahern Union for Europe of the Nations  Jul–Dec Jan Peter Balkenende European People's Party 2005 Jan–Jun Jean-Claude Juncker European People's Party  Jul–Dec Tony Blair Party of European Socialists 2006 Jan–Jun Wolfgang Schüssel European People's Party  Jul–Dec Matti Vanhanen European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 2007 Jan–Jun Angela Merkel European People's Party  Jul–Dec José Sócrates Party of European Socialists 2008 Jan–Jun Janez Janša European People's Party  Jul–Dec Nicolas Sarkozy European People's Party 2009 Jan–May Mirek Topolánek Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists May–Jun Jan Fischer Independent Jul–Nov Fredrik Reinfeldt European People's Party  

Permanent presidents (since 2009)
N.PortraitPresidentStateTook officeLeft officePartyEuropean partyRefs 1 130px Herman Van Rompuy(born 1947) 1 December200930 November2014 CD&V European People's Party Former President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy , European Council5 years 2 130px Donald Tusk(born 1957) 1 December201430 November2019 PO European People's Party Former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk , European Council 5 years 3 130px Charles Michel(born 1975) 1 December201930 November2024 MR Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Charles Michel, President of the European Council, European Council 5 years 4 130px António Costa(born 1961) 1 December2024Incumbent PS Party of European Socialists  

References

Category:European Union
Category:2009 establishments in Europe
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