Charles Michel is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019.
23 Facts About Charles Michel
2.
Charles Michel previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019.
3.
Charles Michel led MR to the 2014 federal election, where they emerged as the third-largest party in the Chamber of Representatives.
4.
Charles Michel was sworn in on 11 October 2014, becoming the youngest Belgian prime minister since Jean-Baptiste Nothomb in 1841.
5.
Charles Michel subsequently tendered his resignation and remained in office in a caretaker capacity.
6.
At the 2019 federal election shortly afterwards, MR lost a number of seats, although Charles Michel remained in office as interim prime minister during coalition negotiations.
7.
Charles Michel took over from Donald Tusk at a ceremony on 29 November 2019, formally beginning his term on 1 December 2019.
8.
Charles Michel is pursuing a liberal economic policy combining privatization of public services, cuts in public spending, pension reform and deregulation of the labor market.
9.
Charles Michel was born in Namur, Wallonia, on 21 December 1975.
10.
Charles Michel is the son of Louis Michel, a former European Commissioner, and Martine Pierre.
11.
Charles Michel began his political career at the age of 16 when he joined the Young Liberal Reformers of Jodoigne, affiliated to the MR.
12.
Charles Michel graduated in law at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and the University of Amsterdam in 1998, after which he became lawyer at the Brussels Bar.
13.
Charles Michel is fluent in Dutch and English in addition to his native French.
14.
Shortly after finishing university, while his father was Belgium's Minister of Home Affairs, Charles Michel was elected to the federal Chamber of Representatives in 1999, representing Walloon Brabant, a stronghold of the liberal MR.
15.
In December 2007, Charles Michel became the Minister of Development Cooperation in the Verhofstadt III Government and subsequently in the Leterme I, Van Rompuy I and Leterme II governments.
16.
On 7 October 2014, an overall agreement was reached between the four parties to form a new government, with Charles Michel proposed as Prime Minister, and Peeters as one of four Deputy Prime Ministers.
17.
Charles Michel became the youngest Belgian Prime Minister in 173 years since Jean-Baptiste Nothomb in 1841, and was only the second Francophone liberal to become Prime Minister.
18.
Charles Michel remained in office as caretaker Prime Minister during the 2019 federal election, and the ensuing coalition negotiations.
19.
On 2 July 2019, Charles Michel was elected President of the European Council, one of the most prominent leadership positions of the European Union.
20.
On 27 September 2020, Charles Michel expressed deep concern over the escalation of hostilities in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately halt fighting and progress towards a peaceful resolution.
21.
Charles Michel denounced a "lack of transparency and loyalty" by the United States.
22.
In March 2021, Charles Michel visited Georgia and participated in talks between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the opposition.
23.
Charles Michel met Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels later that month, and met political leaders in Tbilisi in April 2021, after an agreement was signed after several weeks of mediation brokered by Charles Michel and the EU.