List of members of the European Council

The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union.^[1]

Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the commencement of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its current president is Charles Michel, a former prime minister of Belgium.

Membership

The European Council is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the European Council, and the President of the European Commission.^[1]

The representative of each member state depends on its political system. A member of the European Council is usually the highest representative of the executive branch of government. Cyprus, France, Lithuania, and Romania have presidential or semi-presidential systems and are represented by their head of state (president). The other member states have parliamentary systems and are represented by their head of government (prime minister).

Current members

State	Member^[2]		Member since	Time as member	Elections	Next election	Share of population ^[a]^[4]	Notes
European Union	President of the European Council Charles Michel	Renew – MR	1 December 2019	9 years, 361 days^[b]	2022 2019	2024	—	Non-voting member
European Union	President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen	EPP – CDU	1 December 2019	4 years, 345 days	2019	2024	—	Non-voting member
Republic of Austria	Chancellor Karl Nehammer	EPP – ÖVP	6 December 2021	2 years, 340 days	2019	2024	1.99%	Head of government
Kingdom of Belgium	Prime Minister Alexander De Croo	Renew – Open Vld	1 October 2020	4 years, 40 days	2019	2024	2.58%	Head of government
Republic of Bulgaria	Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev	Independent	9 April 2024	215 days	—	2024	1.55%	Head of government
Republic of Croatia	Prime Minister Andrej Plenković	EPP – HDZ	19 October 2016	8 years, 22 days	2024 2020 2016	2028	0.90%	Head of government
Republic of Cyprus	President Nikos Christodoulides	Independent	28 February 2023	1 year, 256 days	2023	2028	0.20%	Head of state and head of government
Czech Republic	Prime Minister Petr Fiala	ECR – ODS	17 December 2021	2 years, 329 days	2021	2025	2.36%	Head of government
Denmark	Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen	S&D – S	27 June 2019	5 years, 136 days	2022 2019	2026	1.30%	Head of government
Republic of Estonia	Prime Minister Kristen Michal	Renew – ER	23 July 2024	110 days	2023	2027	0.30%	Head of government
Republic of Finland	Prime Minister Petteri Orpo	EPP – Kok.	20 June 2023	1 year, 143 days	2023	2027	1.24%	Head of government
French Republic	President Emmanuel Macron	Renew – RE	14 May 2017	7 years, 180 days	2022 2017	2027	15.07%	Head of state
Federal Republic of Germany	Chancellor Olaf Scholz	S&D – SPD	8 December 2021	2 years, 338 days	2021	2025	18.57%	Head of government
Hellenic Republic	Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis	EPP – ND	26 June 2023	5 years, 92 days^[c]	2023 (Jun) 2023 (May) 2019	2027	2.39%	Head of government
Hungary	Prime Minister Viktor Orbán	PfE – Fidesz	29 May 2010	14 years, 165 days	2022 2018 2014 2010	2026	2.17%	Between July and December 2024, Viktor Orbán is the head of government of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Ireland	Taoiseach Simon Harris	EPP – FG	9 April 2024	215 days	2020	2024	1.12%	Head of government
Italian Republic	Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni	ECR – FdI	22 October 2022	2 years, 19 days	2022	2027	13.38%	Head of government
Republic of Latvia	Prime Minister Evika Siliņa	EPP – V	15 September 2023	1 year, 56 days	2022	2026	0.42%	Head of government
Republic of Lithuania	President Gitanas Nausėda	Independent	12 July 2019	5 years, 121 days	2024 2019	2029	0.62%	Head of state
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg	Prime Minister Luc Frieden	EPP – CSV	17 November 2023	359 days	2023	2028	0.14%	Head of government
Republic of Malta	Prime Minister Robert Abela	S&D – PL	13 January 2020	4 years, 302 days	2022	2027	0.12%	Head of government
Netherlands	Prime Minister Dick Schoof	Independent	2 July 2024	131 days	2023	2027	3.94%	Head of government
Republic of Poland	Prime Minister Donald Tusk	EPP – PO	13 December 2023	12 years, 277 days^[d]	2023	2027	8.45%	Head of government
Portuguese Republic	Prime Minister Luís Montenegro	EPP – PSD	2 April 2024	222 days	2024	2028	2.30%	Head of government
Romania	President Klaus Iohannis	EPP – PNL	21 December 2014	9 years, 325 days	2019 2014	2024	4.29%	Head of state Membership in PNL is formally suspended while in office. Klaus Iohannis, however, still regularly attends EPP pre-European Council meetings.^[3]
Slovak Republic	Prime Minister Robert Fico	Una. – Smer–SD	25 October 2023	11 years, 7 days^[e]	2023	2027	1.22%	Head of government
Republic of Slovenia	Prime Minister Robert Golob	Renew – GS	1 June 2022	2 years, 162 days	2022	2026	0.47%	Head of government
Kingdom of Spain	Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez	S&D – PSOE	2 June 2018	6 years, 161 days	2023 2019 (Nov) 2019 (Apr) 2016	2027	10.59%	Head of government
Kingdom of Sweden	Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson	EPP – M	18 October 2022	2 years, 23 days	2022	2026	2.32%	Head of government

Timeline of membership

Longest-serving members of the European Council

Leaders who have been members of the European Council for more than 10 years
#	Member	Position	State	Membership
1	Jean-Claude Juncker	Prime Minister	Luxembourg	20 January 1995 – 4 December 2013	18 years, 318 days	EPP
		Commission President	European Union	1 November 2014 – 30 November 2019	5 years, 29 days
					23 years, 337 days
2	Helmut Kohl	Chancellor	Germany	1 October 1982 – 27 October 1998	16 years, 26 days	EPP
3	Angela Merkel	Chancellor	Germany	22 November 2005 – 8 December 2021	16 years, 16 days	EPP
4	Jacques Santer	Prime Minister	Luxembourg	20 July 1984 – 26 January 1995	10 years, 190 days	EPP
		Commission President	European Union	25 January 1995 – 15 March 1999	4 years, 49 days
					14 years, 238 days
5	Viktor Orbán	Prime Minister	Hungary	29 May 2010 – present	14 years, 165 days	PfE
6	François Mitterrand	President	France	21 May 1981 – 17 May 1995	13 years, 361 days	S&D
7	Mark Rutte	Prime Minister	Netherlands	14 October 2010 – 2 July 2024	13 years, 262 days	Renew
8	Donald Tusk	Prime Minister	Poland	16 November 2007 – 22 September 2014	6 years, 310 days	EPP
		Council President	European Union	1 December 2014 – 30 November 2019	4 years, 364 days
		Prime Minister	Poland	13 December 2023 – present	333 days
					12 years, 277 days
9	Wilfried Martens	Prime Minister	Belgium	3 March 1979 – 6 April 1981	2 years, 34 days	EPP
		Prime Minister	Belgium	17 December 1981 – 7 March 1992	10 years, 81 days
					12 years, 115 days
10	José Manuel Barroso	Prime Minister	Portugal	6 April 2002 – 17 July 2004	2 years, 102 days	EPP
		Commission President	European Union	22 November 2004 – 31 October 2014	9 years, 343 days
					12 years, 111 days
11	Jacques Chirac	President	France	17 May 1995 – 16 May 2007	11 years, 364 days	EPP
12	Ruud Lubbers	Prime Minister	Netherlands	4 November 1982 – 22 August 1994	11 years, 291 days	EPP
13	Margaret Thatcher	Prime Minister	United Kingdom	4 May 1979 – 28 November 1990	11 years, 208 days	ECR
14	Bertie Ahern	Taoiseach	Ireland	26 June 1997 – 7 May 2008	10 years, 316 days	ECR
15	Robert Fico	Prime Minister	Slovakia	4 July 2006 – 8 July 2010	4 years, 4 days	Una.
				4 April 2012 – 22 March 2018	5 years, 352 days
				25 October 2023 – present	1 year, 16 days
					11 years, 7 days
16	Göran Persson	Prime Minister	Sweden	22 March 1996 – 6 October 2006	10 years, 198 days	S&D
17	Poul Schlüter	Prime Minister	Denmark	10 September 1982 – 25 January 1993	10 years, 137 days	EPP
18	Felipe González	Prime Minister	Spain	1 January 1986 – 5 May 1996	10 years, 125 days	S&D
19	Tony Blair	Prime Minister	United Kingdom	2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007	10 years, 56 days	S&D
20	Jacques Delors	Commission President	European Union	7 January 1985 – 24 January 1995	10 years, 17 days	S&D

Notes

^ Used for qualified majority voting in the Council.
^ Michel had already been a member of the Council from October 2014 to October 2019 as Prime Minister of Belgium.
^ Mitsotakis had already been prime minister, and therefore a member of the Council, from July 2019 to May 2023.
^ Tusk had already been a member of the Council from November 2007 to September 2014 as prime minister, and from December 2014 to November 2019 as its president.
^ Fico had already been prime minister, and therefore a member of the Council, from July 2006 to July 2010 and from April 2012 to March 2018.

References

^ ^a ^b "Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
^ "Members of the European Council". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Current membership of the European Council". Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^ Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2021/2320 of 22 December 2021 amending the Council's Rules of Procedure (Decision 2021/2320). Council of the European Union. 22 December 2021.

[4] Used for qualified majority voting in the Council.

[6] Michel had already been a member of the Council from October 2014 to October 2019 as Prime Minister of Belgium.

[7] Mitsotakis had already been prime minister, and therefore a member of the Council, from July 2019 to May 2023.

[8] Tusk had already been a member of the Council from November 2007 to September 2014 as prime minister, and from December 2014 to November 2019 as its president.

[9] Fico had already been prime minister, and therefore a member of the Council, from July 2006 to July 2010 and from April 2012 to March 2018.

[:0-1] "Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2009.

[2] "Members of the European Council". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 19 April 2024.

[affiliation-3] "Current membership of the European Council". Retrieved 19 April 2024.

[5] Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2021/2320 of 22 December 2021 amending the Council's Rules of Procedure (Decision 2021/2320). Council of the European Union. 22 December 2021.

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