The announcement that Belgium’s Charles Michel was leaving his post as president of the European council, the gathering of EU heads of state and government, early has raised eyebrows at home and abroad. What is Mr Michel’s intention and what has he achieved? These are questions VRT put to Steven Van Hecke, lecturer in European politics at Leuven University.
Steven Van Hecke told VRT at the weekend that he was surprised by Michel’s move. "Only this week I predicted he would not be a candidate in the Belgian or European elections. That’s because anybody who is elected to the European Parliament and does not take their seat straight away has lost it forever”.
"He could have returned to the federal parliament or to Walloon politics, but it is clear that he feels a term in European politics is needed to fulfil his European ambitions."
Mr Michel has subsequently made it clear he indeed intends to stand in the European elections for a seat in the European Parliament and will only leave his job as president of the European council when he takes his parliamentary seat in July. Normally his term runs till November.
A seat in the European Parliament can come in handy says Van Hecke: "Through that route, he is also a candidate for all sorts of other European positions. For example, Belgium’s outgoing federal government may nominate him as the Belgian commissioner, succeeding Didier Reynders, although we know that the latter would prefer a second term."
Mr Michel’s track record as council president is not without its critics.
“His presidency does not end happily" says Van Hecke. "There have been many issues: Sofa gate (i.e. the protocol incident when Mr Michel got to sit in a chair next to the Turkish president, while commission president Von der Leyen was seated on a sofa somewhat further away), a series of failed summits, he has been widely criticised for his failure to get member states on the same line. I fear we may add this episode to the unfortunately long list."
What did he achieve?
According to Van Hecke, from the very start Michel thought of himself "too much as the president of the EU". "Whereas his job is to get member states on the same page. Hence the tensions with commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Unlike with his predecessors Herman Van Rompuy and Donald Tusk, you now have two politicians at the head of the EU who are not yet too old and therefore still thinking about their political future."
The situation resulted in Von der Leyen and Michel becoming rivals. "That is unfortunate. It need not have been so: surely politicians at that level should show some professionalism and put aside personal animosity. They don't have to go on holiday together, but a lunch or dinner together, to go over files, should at least be possible. We know that hasn't happened in months."