List of presidents of the institutions of the European Union

This is a list of presidents of the institutions of the European Union (EU). Each of the institutions is headed by a president or a presidency, with some being more prominent than others. Both the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission are sometimes wrongly termed the President of the European Union. Most go back to 1957 but others, such as the Presidents of the Auditors or the European Central Bank have been created recently. Currently (2024), the President of the European Commission is Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Council is Charles Michel.

Current officeholders

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President of the European Council
  Institution European Council The duty of the European Council president is primarily that of preparing and chairing the meetings of the European Council. The position became 30-month appointed position, elected by the members of the European Council, in 2009 by virtue of the Treaty of Lisbon. Before, it rotated around between the head of state or government of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (see below). This longer term President of the European Council has been described directly by some as a new "President of the European Union". According to the Financial Times, "the president would have few formal powers, but would give the EU strategic leadership and represent the bloc on the world stage on issues such as climate change, bilateral relations and development."[1]
Current holder Charles Michel
Member State   Belgium
Party Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Since 1 December 2019
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
 
Institution Council of the EU The Presidency of the Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers) is rotated between member states every 6 months. The council is composed of the relevant national ministers depending on the topic being discussed with minister from the state holding the presidency chairing. The country holding the Presidency is able to affect the overall policy direction for the six months. Since 2007, the Presidency has been co-ordinated every 18 months by three countries (a "triplet"), though one still takes a lead position every 6 months.
Current holder   Hungary
Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Party Hungarian Civic Alliance
Since 1 July 2024
President of the European Commission
  Institution European Commission The President of the European Commission is head of the 27-member college of commissioners. The commission's responsibilities include drafting legislative proposals and managing the day-to-day running of the EU. It is also responsible for a degree of the EU's external representation, for example attending G8 meetings. The commission president is proposed by the European Council, who take account of the previous European Elections, before being elected by the European Parliament for a five-year mandate. It has been described by some as the "President of the European Union" but a more common analogy is "Prime Minister of the European Union" given the style of position over a cabinet government.[2][3]
Current holder Ursula von der Leyen
Member State   Germany
Party European People's Party
Since 1 December 2019
President of the European Parliament
  Institution European Parliament The President of the European Parliament presides over the plenary of the Parliament, which is one-half of the legislative branch of the Union. The President also chairs the Bureau and Conference of Presidents as well as representing the Parliament. The President's role is similar to that of a speaker in a national parliament, but also represents the Parliament externally and vis a vis the other institutions, which is a more political role.
Current holder Roberta Metsola
Member State   Malta
Party European People's Party
Since 11 January 2022
President of the Court of Justice
  Institution Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) The President of the Court of Justice is elected from and by the judges for a renewable term of three years. The President presides over hearings and deliberations, directing both judicial business and administration. The European Court of Justice is the highest court in the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states.[4] The Court is based in Luxembourg and is composed of one judge per member state – currently 27 – although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or thirteen judges.
Current holder Koen Lenaerts
Member State   Belgium
Party None
Since 8 October 2015
President of the General Court
  Institution Court of Justice of the European Union (General Court) The President of the General Court is elected from and by the judges for a renewable term of three years. The President presides over hearings and deliberations, directing both judicial business and administration.General Court is the second (unofficially lower) court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It is responsible for cases in the fields of environment and consumers, freedom to provide services, law on the EU institutions, trade marks and intellectual and industrial property, competition, state aid, agriculture, public health, EU external relations, economic policy and access to documents. The Court is based in Luxembourg and is composed of two judges from each EU Member state. Cases are heard by the chambers of 5 or 3 judges, presidents of which are elected for a term of three years.Unlike the Court of Justice, the General Court does not have Advocates General, but similar tasks can occasionally be performed by a judge of the General Court.
Current holder Marc van der Woude
Member State   Netherlands
Party None
Since 27 September 2019
President of the European Central Bank
  Institution European Central Bank The President of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union. The President heads the executive board, governing council and general council of the ECB and represents the bank abroad, for example at the G20. The President is appointed by majority in the European Council, de facto by those who have adopted the euro, for an eight-year non-renewable term. The primary objective of the European Central Bank, as mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB,[5] is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone.
Current holder Christine Lagarde
Member State   France
Party European People's Party
Since 1 November 2019
President of the European Court of Auditors
  Institution European Court of Auditors The duties of the President of the European Court of Auditors (which may be delegated) are to convene and chair the meetings of the Court, ensuring that decisions are implemented and the departments (and other activities) are soundly managed. Despite its name, the Court has no judicial functions. It is rather a professional external investigatory audit agency. The primary role of the court is to externally check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly, in that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management.
Current holder Tony Murphy
Member State   Ireland
Party None
Since 1 October 2022

Historic officeholders

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Conservative/Christian democrat Socialist Liberal/Centrist Communist Independent
Year President of the
European Commission
President of the
European Council
President of the
European Parliament
Presidency of the
Council of the European Union
President of the
European Court of Justice
1958 1: Walter Hallstein (I)   1: Robert Schuman   Belgium 1: André Donner
  Belgium
  West Germany
1959   France
  Italy
1960 2: Hans Furler   Luxembourg
  Netherlands
1961   Belgium
  West Germany
1962 1: Walter Hallstein (II) 3: Gaetano Martino   France
  Italy
1963   Luxembourg
  Netherlands
1964 4: Jean Duvieusart   Belgium 2: Charles Léon Hammes
  West Germany
1965 5: Victor Leemans   France
  Italy
1966 6: Alain Poher   Luxembourg
  Netherlands
1967   Belgium 3: Robert Lecourt
2: Jean Rey   West Germany
1968   France
  Italy
1969 7: Mario Scelba   Luxembourg
  Netherlands
1970   Belgium
3: Franco Maria Malfatti   West Germany
1971 8: Walter Behrendt   France
  Italy
1972 4: Sicco Mansholt   Luxembourg
  Netherlands
1973 5: François-Xavier Ortoli 9: Cornelis Berkhouwer   Belgium
  Belgium
  Denmark
  Denmark
1974   West Germany
  France
1975 Liam Cosgrave 10: Georges Spénale   Ireland
Aldo Moro   Italy
1976 Gaston Thorn   Luxembourg 4: Hans Kutscher
Joop den Uyl   Netherlands
1977 6: Roy Jenkins James Callaghan 11: Emilio Colombo   United Kingdom
Leo Tindemans   Belgium
1978 Anker Jørgensen   Denmark
Helmut Schmidt   West Germany
1979 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing   France
Jack Lynch 1: Simone Veil   Ireland
Charles Haughey   Ireland
1980 Francesco Cossiga   Italy 5: Josse Mertens de Wilmars
Pierre Werner   Luxembourg
1981 7: Gaston Thorn Dries van Agt   Netherlands
Margaret Thatcher   United Kingdom
1982 Wilfried Martens 2: Piet Dankert   Belgium
Anker Jørgensen   Denmark
Poul Schlüter   Denmark
1983 Helmut Kohl   West Germany
Andreas Papandreou   Greece
1984 François Mitterrand 3: Pierre Pflimlin   France 6: Alexander Mackenzie Stuart
Garret FitzGerald   Ireland
1985 Bettino Craxi   Italy
Jacques Santer   Luxembourg
1986 8: Jacques Delors (I) Ruud Lubbers   Netherlands
Margaret Thatcher   United Kingdom
1987 Wilfried Martens 4: Henry Plumb   Belgium
Poul Schlüter   Denmark
1988 Helmut Kohl   West Germany 7: Ole Due
Andreas Papandreou   Greece
1989 8: Jacques Delors (II) Felipe González   Spain
François Mitterrand 5: Enrique Barón Crespo   France
1990 Charles Haughey   Ireland
Giulio Andreotti   Italy
1991 Jacques Santer   Luxembourg
Ruud Lubbers   Netherlands
1992 Aníbal Cavaco Silva 6: Egon Klepsch   Portugal
John Major   United Kingdom
1993 8: Jacques Delors (III) Poul Schlüter   Denmark
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen   Denmark
Jean-Luc Dehaene   Belgium
1994 Andreas Papandreou   Greece 8: Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias
Helmut Kohl 7: Klaus Hänsch   Germany
1995 9: Jacques Santer François Mitterrand   France
Jacques Chirac   France
Felipe González   Spain
1996 Lamberto Dini   Italy
Romano Prodi   Italy
John Bruton   Ireland
1997 Wim Kok 8: José María Gil-Robles   Netherlands
Jean-Claude Juncker   Luxembourg
1998 Tony Blair   United Kingdom
Viktor Klima   Austria
1999 Gerhard Schröder   Germany
Manuel Marín (acting)
10: Romano Prodi Paavo Lipponen 9: Nicole Fontaine   Finland
2000 António Guterres   Portugal
Jacques Chirac   France
2001 Göran Persson   Sweden
Guy Verhofstadt   Belgium
2002 José María Aznar López 10: Pat Cox   Spain
Anders Fogh Rasmussen   Denmark
2003 Costas Simitis   Greece 9: Vassilios Skouris
Silvio Berlusconi   Italy
2004 Bertie Ahern   Ireland
11: José Manuel Barroso (I) Jan Peter Balkenende 11: Josep Borrell   Netherlands
2005 Jean-Claude Juncker   Luxembourg
Tony Blair   United Kingdom
2006 Wolfgang Schüssel   Austria
Matti Vanhanen   Finland
2007 Angela Merkel 12: Hans-Gert Pöttering T1   Germany
José Sócrates   Portugal
2008 Janez Janša   Slovenia
Nicolas Sarkozy T2   France
2009 Mirek Topolánek   Czechia
Jan Fischer   Czechia
Fredrik Reinfeldt 13: Jerzy Buzek   Sweden
2010 11: José Manuel Barroso (II) 1. Herman Van Rompuy T3   Spain
  Belgium
2011   Hungary
T4   Poland
2012 14: Martin Schulz   Denmark
  Cyprus
2013 T5   Ireland
  Lithuania
2014   Greece
T6   Italy
2015 12: Jean-Claude Juncker 2. Donald Tusk   Latvia
  Luxembourg
2016 T7   Netherlands 10: Koen Lenaerts
Term expires 6 Oct 2024
15: Antonio Tajani   Slovakia
2017   Malta
T8   Estonia
2018   Bulgaria
  Austria
2019 T9   Romania
16: David Sassoli   Finland
2020 13: Ursula von der Leyen
Term expires 31 Oct 2024
3. Charles Michel
Term expires 30 November 2024
  Croatia
T10   Germany
2021   Portugal
  Slovenia
2022 T11   France
17: Roberta Metsola
  Czechia
2023   Sweden
T12   Spain
2024   Belgium
  Hungary

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Push for Blair as new EU president Financial Times 16 June 2007
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "The Court of Justice". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  5. ^ Statute of the ECB
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