AT A GLANCE

December 2023

Current membership of the European Council

The European Council consists of the 27 Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States, who are voting
members, together with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission,
who have no vote (Article 15(2) Treaty on European Union). The chart shows the current members, the national
office they hold, their most recent European political affiliation, and the year their membership began.

Images taken from the European Council website – © European Union.

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Author: Ralf Drachenberg, European Council Oversight Unit
Graphic: Samy Chahri and Eulalia Claros
PE 608.781
 EPRS Current membership of the European Council

Recent developments
The duration of an individual Head of State or Government's membership of the European Council is not
laid down in the EU Treaties but is, rather, directly linked to changes in the composition of national
governments within the EU Member States. There are thus significant variations between Member States,
reflecting varying electoral cycles and frequency in leadership changes in these countries. As a result, some
individual Heads of State or Government may be participating in their very first meeting of the European
Council, while others might have participated for 10 years or more. In the period since February 2015, there
have been changes in membership on average every 2 months. Since the previous edition of this
publication, in October 2023, national and European political developments have led to a number of
changes in the European Council's membership, as set out below.
Changes in members and their status
Newest member of the European Council
Following elections in Luxembourg, in which the conservative Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) won the
highest number of seats, Luc Frieden, former finance minister, was sworn in as Prime Minister on
17 November 2023 and will attend the European Council for the first time in December. He replaces Xavier
Bettel, who serves as Foreign Minister in the new government.
Returning member
Following the election in Poland on 15 October, Donald Tusk was elected as Polish Prime Minister on
11 December 2023 and will attend the December European Council meeting. He held this office previously,
from 2007 to 2014, and was then the European Council's President from 2014 to 2019.
Members' changes in status
The new Spanish government took office on 16 November 2023, with Pedro Sánchez, continuing to hold
the position of Prime Minister. Spain previously had a caretaker government under Sánchez, following
national elections on 23 July 2023.
Following the collapse of the Dutch coalition government, long-time Prime Minister of the Netherlands,
Mark Rutte resigned on 3 July 2023. New parliamentary elections took place on 22 November 2023. Rutte
is leading a caretaker government and will participate in European Council meetings until a new
government is formed.
On 7 November 2023, long-time Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned after the launch of an
investigation into alleged irregularities involving his chief of staff, and in which his name was mistakenly
cited. Consequently, Portugal has a caretaker government under Costa pending national elections, which
have been called for 10 March 2024. Costa has indicated he will not run again.
Changes in the balance between political party affiliations
The change in Luxemburg from Xavier Bettel to Luc Frieden adds one additional representative for the EPP
and reduces by one the Renew/ALDE members in the European Council. The return of Donald Tusk to the
European Council as Polish Prime Minister, replacing Mateusz Morawiecki, results in one additional EU
leader in the group of EPP members in the European Council and reduced the number of ECR members
represented in the institution. Following these changes, the European Council currently includes ten
members from the European People's Party (EPP), six from Renew Europe/ALDE, five from the Party of
European Socialists (S&D/PES), two from the ECR, and four independent or non-affiliated members.

NB: Under the Romanian constitution, the country's president should not be a member of any political party.
However, Klaus Iohannis, previously a member of an EPP-affiliated party, still regularly attends EPP pre-European
Council meetings. As the Bulgarian Prime Minister attends Renew Europe pre-European Council meetings, he is
considered for this exercise as belonging to the Renew Europe family. And as Robert Fico's Smer-SSD party has
been suspended as a member of the Party of European Socialists as well as the S&D group in the European
Parliament, he will be considered for the time being as a non-attached member of the European Council.

This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their
parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken
to represent an official position of the Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source
is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. © European Union, 2023.
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