President of the European Council

The title of this article is ambiguous. Chair of the European Council refers to a former office in the EU that existed until December 1, 2009. Today it is a slang term for the President of the European Council , whose office was newly created on December 1, 2009. For the chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, see Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The President of the European Council led to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009, the meetings of the European Council coming together Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States. According to the principle of rotation, the office changed between these every six months. In the press media it was accordingly said that the country, which the respective council chairman served as head of government, now holds the council presidency.

The main task of the chairman of the European Council was to actively find compromises among his colleagues through his own suggestions, which he often explored in “confessional talks” with colleagues who were still too convincing. The six-monthly rotation of the office did not allow continuity in the exercise of this function and regularly fueled speculation about which agenda the country planned for the coming Council Presidency would pursue in each case. The Council presidencies of large member states often received more hopes for groundbreaking compromises and progress in integration than the smaller member states, which overall had less influence in the EU institutions.

With the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, this six-monthly rotating presidency was replaced by the newly created function of the President of the European Council , elected by the heads of government of the EU member states for two and a half years , who is given the opportunity to fully focus on his coordination and mediation function between the To concentrate Member States, as he is not allowed to hold any office at the national level at the same time.

Chairperson

Chairman	From	To	country
Jean-Luc Dehaene	Nov 1993	31st Dec 1993	Belgium
Andreas Papandreou	Jan 1, 1994	30 Jun 1994	Greece
Helmut Kohl	1 Jul 1994	31st Dec 1994	Germany
François Mitterrand	Jan 1, 1995	May 17, 1995	France
Jacques Chirac	May 17, 1995	Jun 30, 1995	France
Felipe González	1 Jul 1995	31st Dec 1995	Spain
Lamberto Dini	Jan 1, 1996	May 18, 1996	Italy
Romano Prodi	May 18, 1996	30 Jun 1996	Italy
John Bruton	Jul 1, 1996	31st Dec 1996	Ireland
Wim Kok	Jan 1, 1997	Jun 30, 1997	Netherlands
Jean-Claude Juncker	Jul 1, 1997	Dec 31, 1997	Luxembourg
Tony Blair	Jan 1, 1998	30 Jun 1998	United Kingdom
Viktor Klima	1 Jul 1998	Dec 31, 1998	Austria
Gerhard Schröder	Jan 1, 1999	Jun 30, 1999	Germany
Paavo Lipponen	1 Jul 1999	Dec 31, 1999	Finland
Antonio Guterres	Jan 1, 2000	30 Jun 2000	Portugal
Jacques Chirac	Jul 1, 2000	Dec 31, 2000	France
Göran Persson	Jan 1, 2001	Jun 30, 2001	Sweden
Guy Verhofstadt	Jul 1, 2001	Dec 31, 2001	Belgium
José María Aznar	Jan 1, 2002	Jun 30, 2002	Spain
Not so Fogh Rasmussen	Jul 1, 2002	Dec 31, 2002	Denmark
Konstantinos Simitis	Jan 1, 2003	Jun 30, 2003	Greece
Silvio Berlusconi	Jul 1, 2003	Dec 31, 2003	Italy
Bertie Ahern	Jan 1, 2004	Jun 30, 2004	Ireland
Jan Peter Balkenende	Jul 1, 2004	Dec 31, 2004	Netherlands
Jean-Claude Juncker	Jan 1, 2005	Jun 30, 2005	Luxembourg
Tony Blair	Jul 1, 2005	Dec 31, 2005	United Kingdom
Wolfgang bowl	Jan 1, 2006	Jun 30, 2006	Austria
Matti Vanhanen	Jul 1, 2006	Dec 31, 2006	Finland
Angela Merkel	Jan 1, 2007	Jun 30, 2007	Germany
José Sócrates	Jul 1, 2007	Dec 31, 2007	Portugal
Janez Janša	Jan 1, 2008	Jun 30, 2008	Slovenia
Nicolas Sarkozy	Jul 1, 2008	Dec 31, 2008	France
Mirek Topolánek	Jan 1, 2009	May 8, 2009	Czech Republic
Jan Fischer	May 9, 2009	Jun 30, 2009	Czech Republic
Fredrik Reinfeldt	Jul 1, 2009	Nov 30, 2009	Sweden