Costa succeeds Charles Michel as President of the European Council
The change in the presidency of the European Council became clear this Friday. At a ceremony at his headquarters in Brussels, the former Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio CostaAfter being elected to the post in June, he received the traditional ‘bell’ from his predecessor, the Belgian liberal Charles Michel, a symbol worn by the leaders of this European institution.
Costa, who officially took up his duties this Sunday, has promised to continue the work of organizing and refereeing EU heads of state and government summits, as well Work to protect multilateralism, cooperation and twenty-seven values such as democracy, human rights or protection of minorities.
“In this globalized world, the only way to be truly patriotic, to have sovereignty, is to build a shared Europe,” Costa said in a speech at the event held at the headquarters of the Council of the European Union. Will be able to meet other senior officials such as the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
The Portuguese also mentioned the need for achieve peace in ukraine “It doesn’t reward the attacker.” He said, “We must write a new chapter of the EU as a peace project: stronger, more efficient, more flexible and more autonomous in security and defence.” Michel, for his part, wished him “the best” for the position, as he said in his speech and later published on social networks.
Costa Method for the New Political Cycle
Costa is the son of a feminist journalist and a communist writer, originally from the former Portuguese colony of Goa (India), Costa (Lisbon, 1961) and trained as a lawyer. He began a long political career –Sponsored by Antonio Guterres, current Secretary-General of the United Nations– where he has earned a reputation as a skilled negotiator. He has also served as Mayor of Lisbon (2007–2015), MEP (2004–2005) and Minister of the Parliamentary Affairs, Justice and Administration portfolios in various periods between 1997 and 2007.
He The new President of the European Council is now the fourth in office He arrived at the institution after Herman von Rompuy (2009–2014), Donald Tusk (2014–2019) and Michel (2019–2024) and served as Prime Minister of Portugal between 2015 and 2024, the position he held. Resigned during investigation. From a corruption case.
Since his appointment as President of the Council of the European Union, Costa has appointed the former Portuguese Ambassador to the EU, Pedro Lurti, as chief of staff and Has visited twenty-five of the twenty-seven capitals of the European Union – all except Sofia and Bucharest – to gather the essential issues of the new political cycle. In addition, he has called for an informal dinner for European leaders on 3 February to discuss the defense of the Community Club, among other matters.
with Mandate renewable for two and a half yearsThe Portuguese will also have to examine how to manage relations with United States President-elect Donald Trump, how to lay the foundation for new relations with the United Kingdom and how to oversee relations between Russia and China. Regarding his working method, Late. Will try to give more prominence to ambassadors Before the EU member states and would return to an idea, which did not work at least for Tusk: it would try to concentrate European councils (summits) on a single day.
Michelle’s work: from the pandemic to ‘Sofagate’
The mandate of Charles Michel (Namur, 1975), former Prime Minister of Belgium (2014–2019), is marked ‘Brexit’, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas in GazaWhich has made its role as organizer of the EU summit particularly relevant.
In particular, heSituation was complex during Covid-19When leaders were required to meet by video conference, the arrangement was less conducive to negotiations. This led Michel to face the second longest summit in EU history in July 2020: four days and four nights of discussions, 27 agree on biggest recovery plan Based on a normal loan after the pandemic. He has also attempted to maintain the unity of the community club in the face of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine.
Some? Michelle has also been surrounded by controversiesThe most notorious was what became known as ‘Sofagate’, in which, on a visit to Turkey with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he was seated on a sofa in the background, while Michel was adjacent. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The image went viral and Charles Mitchell was accused of not reacting faced the situation. The latest controversy was Michel’s announcement that he would leave office in mid-July to run in the 2024 European Parliament elections as a candidate for Belgium’s centre-right party, the Reform Movement, an idea he rejected shortly after receiving criticism. Had left.
Despite ups and downs, Michelle dedicated emotional words to the organization in her farewellHe said, “The European Union is perhaps the most beautiful dream in the history of humanity…. Despite all the difficulties, I am very optimistic about our European future because of its people, its energy and its dreams.” In a speech he also welcomed Costa.