According to diplomatic sources, the decision was adopted at a meeting of the European Council in Brussels, in which the leaders of the European Union (EU) also proposed the name of Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as the head of the European Commission, which depends on the final approval of the European Parliament, and appointed the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, subject to election by MEPs from the entire college of commissioners.

However, the information was confirmed by the current president of the European Council, Charles Michel, who in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter) announced that EU leaders “elected António Costa as the new president of the European Council”, taking office on 1 December 2024.

After his resignation following judicial investigations, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was chosen to succeed the Belgian Charles Michel (in office since 2019) in the leadership of the European Council, the EU institution that brings together the heads of Government and of State of the European bloc, in an appointment made by a qualified majority (55% of the 27 member states, representing 65% of the total population).

António Costa is the first Portuguese and the first socialist to head the European Council, in addition to, also for the first time, European leaders choosing for president a name that was not in the room.

The office of President of the European Council was created in the Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007, with former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy serving two terms, between 1 December 2009 and 30 November 2014.

Former head of the Polish Government Donald Tusk was the second to be chosen by his peers, having also assumed the presidency for two terms between 1 December 2014 and 30 November 2019.

The current president, former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, will end his term in office on 30 November.

Before the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty, the presidencies of the Council were held by the heads of state or government of the countries that held the six-month presidencies.