Charles Michel is set to leave his current role as European Council President in July to run as a candidate for the Francophone liberal party Mouvement Reformateur (MR) in the upcoming European elections.
The President of the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27 EU Member States, whose term of office was due to expire at the end of November, has announced his intention to step down from his post in July: he is standing in the European Parliament elections as leader of the list of his liberal MR party.
Belonging to the same generation of pro-European leaders as France's Emmanuel Macron and Luxembourg's Xavier Bettel, he was chosen in 2019 to succeed Poland's Donald Tusk at the head of the European Council, a prestigious but also perilous post.
The 48-year-old lawyer by training nonetheless succeeded in forging compromises between 27 leaders with diverse interests, against a backdrop of major crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and Russian's invasion of Ukraine. But Michel has now decided to part ways with the European Council ahead of the upcoming elections.
'Committed to universal suffrage'
"2024 will be a significant electoral year not just in Europe but globally, as nearly half of the world populace will be voting in countries such as the US, Russia and India," stated Michel, Belgium's former – and youngest – Prime Minister.
"I plan on leading the MR list in the European elections. My goal is to be sworn in as a Member of the European Parliament," declared the Belgian liberal.
"I am a candidate to help strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the European Parliament. I am committed to universal suffrage, to going out and meeting people."
Party president Georges-Louis Bouchez praised Michel's decision at MR's New Year conference in Louvain-la-Neuve: "What normally constituted party, with the President of the European Council in its ranks, would not want to see him on its list?"
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Michel has confirmed that he intends to remain in his current position until his swearing-in as an MEP, scheduled for 16 July.
The Council's members are being informed about this shift six months before the first session of the European Parliament. "No one is taken by surprise, and my successor will be chosen by late June or early July. The handover process should be quite straightforward," he clarified.
Michel's mandate runs until 30 November. The question of appointing an interim president now arises. With Hungary taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from Belgium on 1 July, the possibility of its far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban taking the role on an interim basis has been raised, but is likely to provoke bitter debate.
