He was once the youngest minister in Belgian history: Who is Charles Michel?

Michel was born in Belgium on December 21, 1975. His full name is Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine Michel. His father, Louis Michel, was also involved in politics and served as mayor.

Starting his political career at the age of 16, Charles Michel first joined the Young Liberals (Jeunes Réformateurs Libéraux de Jodoigne). His father, Louis Michel, was mayor of Jodoigne since 1983. In 1994, at the age of 18, he was elected as a member of the provincial council. He graduated from the University Libre de Bruxelles law department and then started practicing law in Brussels.

In 2000, he became Minister of Internal Affairs in the Walloon Government. At the age of 25, he became the youngest minister in Belgian history. In 2006, he became mayor of the city. In December 2007 he became Minister for Development Cooperation in the 3rd Government of Guy Verhofstadt. In January 2011, he was elected President of the Mouvement Réformateur and resigned from his post as Minister of Development Cooperation.

Charles Michel (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. He was sworn in on 11 October 2014, becoming the youngest Belgian prime minister since Jean-Baptiste Nothomb in 1841.

He became Prime Minister of Belgium on 11 October 2014.

As a result of the Yellow Vest protest, which spread to Belgium after France in December 2018, increasing the reactions against the government in society, socialist (ABVV), Christian (ACV), and Liberal (ACLVB) labor unions in the country carried out national actions. And on December 17, 2018, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel decided to resign after losing the vote of confidence. King Philippe of Belgium decided to "hold" the petition of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who submitted his resignation.

But then King Philippe of Belgium accepted Prime Minister Charles Michel's resignation and demanded that he remain at the head of the interim minority government until the next election in May 2019.

Charles Michel is married to Amélie Derbaudrenghien.

April 2021

EU Council President Michel: I can't sleep at night because of the seat issue in Turkey

President of the European Union Council, Charles Michel, said that he lost sleep due to the "seat scandal" that occurred during his visit to Turkey and led to criticism of himself.

During the visit to Ankara, where EU leaders met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Michel and Erdoğan sat on the two seats in front of the flags, showing priority in terms of protocol. When Von der Leyen saw that there was no seat reserved for her, she stood hesitantly for a while and then sat on the sofa opposite Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

"I didn't want to display a patriarchal attitude"

In the interview published today in the headlines of Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper, Charles Michel described those moments as follows:

"I had only a few seconds to decide how to act. I thought that reacting at that moment might cast a shadow over the long diplomatic work that had been done for our visit. I also did not want to display any paternalistic attitude towards Ms. Von der Leyen. But I understand the criticisms leveled at me and oppose them." I respect your opinions."

March 2022

Charles Michel was once again unanimously elected President of the European Council.

European Union (EU) Council President Charles Michel will continue his duty in the second term.

Michel, who took office on December 1, 2019, expired on May 31, 2022. Michel, who will serve until November 30, 2024, previously served as Prime Minister of Belgium for 5 years.