Role and election of the President of the European Council: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Table of Contents

• Role and election of the President of the European Council 1
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ) 1
• The European Council consists of the Heads of State or Government of the 27 EU Member States, as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. It became a formal European Union (EU) institution with a full... 1
• On 1 December 2024, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa will take over as President of the European Council. This briefing provides an overview of the functions and responsibilities of this office by answering some of the most frequently as... 1
• This updates an EPRS briefing from March 2022. 1
• 1. When was the permanent office of President of the European Council created? 1
• The office of full-time President was introduced in 2009 with the Lisbon Treaty – at the same time as the European Council became a fully fledged EU institution. It replaced the previous rotating presidency of the European Council, held by the Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers), which continues to chair most Council formations. The office was created, among other reasons, to bring more continuity and coherence to the European Council's work. 1
• 2. What is the role of the European Council President? 1
• The role of the President is set out in Article 15(6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which specifies that the President of the European Council: 1
•  chairs the European Council and drives forward its work; 1
•  ensures the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the General Affairs Council; 1
•  endeavours to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council; 1
•  presents a report to the European Parliament after each formal meeting of the European Council. 1
• The President of the European Council also ensures the external representation of the EU on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy (CFSP), without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. 2
• Herman Van Rompuy, the first full-time President of the European Council, described his role as follows: 2
• The European Council is generally considered to be the highest political authority in the Union, but the job description and formal competences of its President are rather vague, even meagre. A lot therefore depends on what you do with it or make of it! I can put it differently: everything which was not foreseen formally, had to be created informally. 2
• 3. Is the President a member of the European Council? 2
• The European Council's President is a member of the European Council, as is the President of the European Commission. Article 15 TEU states that 'the European Council shall consist of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, together with its President and the President of the Commission'. The difference between these two categories of members is that, as opposed to the EU leaders, the two presidents do not have voting rights; thus, according to Article 235(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), 'where the European Council decides by vote, its President and the President of the Commission shall not take part in the vote'. 2
• 4. How long is the President's term of office? 2
• Article 15(5) TEU states that the term of office of the President of the European Council is 2.5 years. The same person can be re-elected once. The first three European Council Presidents have all completed two terms in office. 2
• 5. Who can replace the President if necessary? 2
• There is no vice-president of the European Council to support the President or take over if need be. In case of illness or death, or if the President's term is ended due to impediment or serious misconduct in accordance with Article 15(5) TEU, the member of the European Council representing the Member State holding the rotating Council presidency replaces the President of the European Council until the election of his or her successor (Article 2(4) of the European Council Rules of Procedure). A situation requiring the replacement of the European Council President almost occurred in 2024, when Charles Michel announced on 6 January 2024 that he intended to run in the 2024 European Parliament elections, and that if elected he would stand down more than 4 months ahead of the end of his mandate. Following intense discussions on this potential move and the consequences for the EU, he changed his plans on 26 January and remained European Council President until the end of his term. 2
• 6. Who has held the office to date? 2
• Figure1 – European Council Presidents: European political party affiliation, Member State and date of (re)election 3
• From 1 December 2024, António Costa will be the fourth holder of the office of President of the European Council, following on from Charles Michel, Donald Tusk and Herman Van Rompuy. So far, all holders have been men who have previously led the governments of their respective Member States. Herman Van Rompuy was 62 years old at the start of his term of office as President (in 2009), Donald Tusk was 57 (2014), Charles Michel was 43 (2019) and António Costa is 63 (2024). 2
• / 3
• Source: EPRS. 3
• 7. Who proposes the candidate(s) for the office of President? 3
• Neither the Treaties nor the European Council's Rules of Procedure specify who is officially in charge of steering the nomination process and proposing possible candidates for the position of President of the European Council. For the election and re-election of Herman Van Rompuy, it was the leader of the Member State holding the rotating Council presidency (the Swedish and Danish Prime Ministers, respectively) who collected proposals from the Heads of State or Government and sounded out the views of the other EU leaders. When considering his successor, President Van Rompuy played an important role in the selection process, and proposed Donald Tusk as candidate, after seeking out the opinions of the Heads of State or Government. 3
• When the re-election of Tusk was approaching, it was the then Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the rotating presidency (i.e. the Prime Minister of Malta), who sounded out the views of the European Council members and chaired this agenda point. The sounding-out process for a successor to Tusk in 2019 was coordinated by Tusk himself. Then, in 2022, for Michel's re-election, it was again the EU leader holding the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who chaired the meeting. Along the same lines, in 2024, Charles Michel coordinated the process to find his successor. 3
• 8. How does the election process work? 3
• Table 1 – Roles of the European Council and the European Parliament in high-level appointments as defined by the Treaty on European Union 4
• As specified in the European Council's rules of procedure, most decisions of EU leaders, notably the adoption of conclusions at formal meetings, are taken by consensus. The election of the President of the European Council is however decided by qualified majority voting (Article 15(5) TEU). Using the same procedure, the European Council can also terminate the President's term of office in the event of an impediment or serious misconduct. 3
• A decision by consensus is also sought for the election of the President, but it has not always been possible. For Donald Tusk's re-election on 9 March 2017, the Polish government voted against, while all the others voted in favour. To protest against Donald Tusk's re-election, the then Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydło, refused to agree on the conclusions of the meeting, which can only be adopted by consensus. Thus, for the first time since its establishment, the formal meeting of EU leaders ended with 'conclusions by the President of the European Council', as opposed to standard European Council conclusions. 3
• During the selection process for his successor (and other high-level appointments at the start of the 2019 institutional cycle), Donald Tusk stressed that these decisions were to be taken by consensus if possible, but that he 'would not shy away from putting [them] to the vote' if needed. As had been the case for past European Council decisions on top jobs (e.g. in 2014 for the nomination of the Commission President), in 2024, the candidates were not supported by all EU leaders. In June 2024, as in 2014,Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his opposition to the package deal and, while supporting Costa, voted against Ursula von der Leyen and abstained on Kaja Kallas. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained on von der Leyen and voted against the other two because the selection process had excluded her political family. 4
• European Parliament role 4
• European Council role 4
• Treaty article 4
• Position 4
• President of the European Commission 4
• Elects candidate 4
• Proposes candidate 4
• 17(7) TEU 4
• None 4
• Elects 4
• 15(5) TEU 4
• President of the European Council 4
• Appoints (with agreement of the President of the Commission) 4
• High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 4
• Approves as one of the College of Commissioners 4
• 18(1) TEU 4
• Source: EPRS. 4
• The election of the European Council's President does not need the European Parliament's approval, in contrast to the election of the Commission President and of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (as a member of the College of Commissioners) (see Table 1). 4
• 9. What are the criteria for choosing the European Council President? 4
• Prior to the Lisbon Treaty, the members of the European Council had no say in who held the presidency, as it was automatically the Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the rotating presidency who carried out this role. The changes introduced with Lisbon gave EU leaders the possibility to choose the person they believed to be most suitable. 4
• When choosing the future President of the European Council, EU leaders take into account many factors, along with the candidates' professional experience and performance. In addition to the personal qualities and previous functions of the candidate (e.g. all have so far been head of government before becoming European Council President), in recent institutional cycles, the election has been part of a package agreed between the EU leaders, one that also included the positions of President of the European Commission, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and President of the European Central Bank. 4
• When choosing the candidates, attention may be paid to ensuring a certain balance among the individuals included in the package – a balance partially reflected and formalised in Declaration (No 6) on Article 15(5) and (6), Article 17(6) and (7) and Article 18 TEU. The latter states that 'in choosing the persons called upon to hold the offices of President of the European Council, President of the Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, due account is to be taken of the need to respect the geographical and demographic diversity of the Union and its Member States'. During the nomination process for the EU's new institutional leadership in 2019, Donald Tusk stressed that the nominations should reflect the EU's demography and geographical balance, but also gender and political balances. While factors such as gender and geographical balance are taken into consideration, the allocation of high-level EU positions by the European Council has a strong political party dimension (see EPRS briefing on European political parties and the European Council). 4
• Figure 2 – Overview of high-level office-holders since the 2009 European elections 5
• 10. Can European Council President hold other offices? 6
• While the Treaty clearly states that the European Council President 'shall not hold a national office' (Article 15(6) TEU), it does not specify that it is forbidden to hold another European office. In fact, Herman Van Rompuy, Donald Tusk, Charles Michel and António Costa each also served as President of the Euro Summit while President of the European Council. 6
• According to the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (TSCG) 'the President of the Euro Summit shall be appointed by the Heads of State or Government of the Contracting Parties whose currency is the euro by simple majority at the same time as the European Council elects its President and for the same term of office' (Article 12 TSCG). It does not however specify that the President of the Euro Summit must come from a country that is part of the euro area. Donald Tusk (Poland) was President of the Euro Summit, but did not come from a euro-area country. 6
• 11. How does the European Council President interact with the European Parliament? 6
• The main interaction between the President of the European Council and the European Parliament is the regular plenary debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting. Reporting after a formal European Council meeting is an obligation for the European Council President, set out in Article 15(6)(d) TEU. While it does not make the European Council president accountable to Parliament, these debates in Parliament's chamber constitute a crucial component of the scrutiny activities of the European Parliament. Parliament's plenary is also the only place at EU level where the outcome of European Council meetings are examined and scrutinised, and the institution is held accountable. 6
• Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council's first full-time President, emphasised that he was not accountable to the European Parliament. While making a point of keeping Parliament as informed as possible, he avoided making any commitment that could be interpreted as any form of accountability of the President of the European Council towards Parliament. 6
• Fulfilment of the obligation to report to Parliament after formal European Council meetings has varied over time and between European Council presidents. Depending on the European Council president, the scope of the reporting after European Council meetings has been interpreted more widely or more narrowly. While Tusk never reported to the European Parliament after informal European Council meetings, both Van Rompuy and Michel frequently did (see EPRS research). 6
• Other meetings. In addition to plenary debates on the European Council conclusions, European Council Presidents have also, on occasion, had meetings with the President of the European Parliament, Parliament's Conference of Presidents (e.g. Charles Michel on 20 June 2024 for consultations on the new institutional cycle, both institutions being jointly responsible for the smoothness of the process of choosing a candidate for Commission president), with the leaders of the political groups in Parliament in either bilateral or multilateral formats (e.g. Tusk in June 2019 at the start of the previous institutional cycle) or political groups in their entirety. They have also attended plenary debates unrelated to the outcome of a European Council meeting. The number and frequency of these meetings has varied with each European Council President. 6
• Written questions. Following the example set by Van Rompuy, his successors have also agreed to answer written questions from Members of the European Parliament, in so far as these questions addressed their own political activities rather than those of the European Council as an institution. Over time, the possibility of posing written questions to the President of the European Council, in addition to representatives of the Council and the European Commission, has been included in Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. 6
• FURTHER READING 7
• Anghel, S. and Drachenberg, R., The European Council under the Lisbon Treaty, EPRS, European Parliament, 2019. 7
• Dinan, D., 'The Post-Lisbon European Council Presidency: An Interim Assessment', West European Politics, Volume 36, Issue 6, 2013, pp. 1256-1273. 7
• Dinan, D., Relations between the European Council and the European Parliament, EPRS, European Parliament, 2018. 7
• Drachenberg, R., Charles Michel as President of the European Council: The first 100+ days, EPRS, European Parliament, 2020. 7
• Drachenberg, R., Charles Michel as President of the European Council, EPRS European Parliament, 2022 7
• Drachenberg, R,. Interaction between the European Parliament and the European Council: Parliament's plenary debates on European Council conclusions, EPRS, European Parliament, 2024 7
• Drachenberg, R,. with Nielsen, C., European Council Facts and Figures, EPRS, European Parliament, 2024. 7
• Eggermont, F., The changing role of the European Council in the institutional framework of the European Union, Intersentia, 2012 (available at the European Parliament Library Reading Room). 7
• ENDNOTES 7
• DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT 7
• This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. 7
• Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. 7
• © European Union, 2024. 7
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