Charles Michel
President of the European Council since 2019 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Charles Michel (French: [ʃaʁl miʃɛl]; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019.
Charles Michel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2019 | |
| President of the European Council | |
| Assumed office 1 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Tusk |
| Prime Minister of Belgium | |
| In office 11 October 2014 – 27 October 2019 | |
| Monarch | Philippe |
| Deputy | Jan Jambon Kris Peeters Koen Geens Didier Reynders Alexander De Croo |
| Preceded by | Elio Di Rupo |
| Succeeded by | Sophie Wilmès |
| President of the Reformist Movement | |
| In office 18 February 2019 – 29 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Olivier Chastel |
| Succeeded by | Georges-Louis Bouchez |
| In office 14 February 2011 – 10 October 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Didier Reynders |
| Succeeded by | Olivier Chastel |
| Minister of Development Cooperation | |
| In office 21 December 2007 – 14 February 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Guy Verhofstadt Yves Leterme Herman Van Rompuy |
| Preceded by | Armand De Decker |
| Succeeded by | Olivier Chastel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine Michel (1975-12-21) 21 December 1975 (age 47) Namur, Wallonia, Belgium |
| Political party | Reformist Movement |
| Other political affiliations | ALDE Party |
| Spouse | Amélie Derbaudrenghien |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
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| Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles University of Amsterdam |
Michel became the minister of development cooperation in 2007 at age thirty-one, and remained in this position until elected the leader of the Francophone liberal Reformist Movement (MR) in February 2011. He led MR to the 2014 federal election, where they emerged as the third-largest party in the Chamber of Representatives. After coalition negotiations, Michel was confirmed as Prime Minister of a MR-N-VA-OVLD-CD&V government. He was sworn in on 11 October 2014, becoming the youngest Belgian prime minister since Jean-Baptiste Nothomb in 1841.
In December 2018, the government collapsed following internal disagreements over the handling of the Global Compact for Migration, with the N-VA withdrawing from the cabinet. Michel subsequently tendered his resignation and remained in office in a caretaker capacity.[1] At the 2019 federal election shortly afterwards, MR lost a number of seats, although Michel remained in office as interim prime minister during coalition negotiations. Weeks after the federal election, on 2 July 2019, the European Council voted to appoint Michel as its new president. He took over from Donald Tusk at a ceremony on 29 November 2019, formally beginning his term on 1 December 2019.[2][3] He is pursuing a liberal economic policy combining privatization of public services, cuts in public spending, pension reform and deregulation of the labor market.