In December 2018, the government collapsed following internal disagreements over the handling of theGlobal Compact for Migration, with the N-VA withdrawing from the cabinet. Michel subsequently tendered his resignation and remained in office in acaretaker capacity.[1] At the2019 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, theEuropean Council voted to appoint Michel as its new president. He took over fromDonald Tusk at a ceremony on 29 November 2019, formally beginning his term on 1 December 2019.[2][3] In January 2024, he announced he would step down aspresident of the European Council to run in the2024 European Parliament election, before reversing his decision within the same month and declaring he would finish his current mandate.[4][5]
Charles Michel was born inNamur,Wallonia, on 21 December 1975. He is the son ofLouis Michel, a formerEuropean Commissioner, and Martine Pierre. Michel began his political career at the age of 16 when he joined the Young Liberal Reformers of Jodoigne (Jeunes Réformateurs Libéraux de Jodoigne), affiliated to the MR. In 1994, at the age of 18, he was elected provincial councilor inWalloon Brabant. He graduated in law at theUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and theUniversity of Amsterdam in 1998, after which he became lawyer at the Brussels Bar. He is fluent in Dutch and English in addition to his native French.
His brotherMathieu Michelis also a Belgian politician, having served as Secretary of State for Digitisation between 2020 and 2025.
Shortly after finishing university, while his father was Belgium's Minister of Home Affairs, Michel was elected to the federalChamber of Representatives in1999 (age 23), representingWalloon Brabant, a stronghold of the liberal MR. In 2000, he became Minister of Home Affairs in theWalloon Government aged 25, making him the youngest regional minister in Belgian history.[6] At the same time, his father was minister of Home Affairs at the national level. At the local level, he was elected city councillor inWavre in 2000, and in 2006 became mayor of the city.
After the2014 federal election, Michel became co-formateur in the ensuingcoalition negotiations. Initially,CD&V LeaderKris Peeters was expected to be prime minister. However CD&V also insisted onMarianne Thyssen being appointed asEuropean Commissioner, and Michel's MR refused to allow the two most important political posts to be held by a single party. Ultimately, the parties agreed to appoint Thyssen as European Commissioner, with an understanding that the prime ministership would go to either MR orOVLD. As Michel was serving as co-formateur, he quickly won internal support from other parties to lead the next government. On 7 October 2014, an overall agreement was reached between the four parties to form a new government, with Michel proposed as prime minister, and Peeters as one of four deputy prime ministers. 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.[9][10]
In the Ministry of Security and the Interior, many tasks of the federal police are being privatized (securing public buildings, supervising detainees, etc.), while the departments concerned with international crime (especially computer and financial crime) are being decentralized. In defence, while the budget for investment in equipment has been increased at the request ofNATO, the number of personnel is to be reduced by 19.5 per cent. Federal cultural and scientific institutions have been hit by budget cuts of 20 per cent. The budget allocated to the functioning of the judiciary is also depleted, leading Belgium's highest magistrate to accuse the "logic of economy" of being responsible for a "pathology of the entire judicial system that endangers the rule of law."[11]
On 1 January 2016, thetax shift began to take effect. This includes increasing the take-home pay of the lowest income earners through a decrease in social security contributions. The expected increase is €80 net for an employee earning €1,500; €70 for those earning €2,100; and €60 for those earning €2,800. Finance MinisterJohan Van Overtveldt says "the tax shift will be a tax cut", although the value-added tax on electricity will rise from 6% to the standard rate of 21% andexcise duties on alcohol, diesel, tobacco and soft drinks will increase. A liberal orientation was also adopted in the area of pensions (Bacquelaine law, which reduced the pensions of the formerly unemployed) and labour law (Peeters law, which deregulated the use of overtime, part-time contracts and flexible hours).[12][13]
In December 2018, a political crisis emerged over whether to sign theGlobal Compact for Migration. Michel's coalition partner N-VA, which originally supported the Compact, reversed course to oppose it whereas the other three parties continued to support it. Michel subsequently announced the formation of aminority government, with CD&V, MR and OVLD backing the compact.[14][15][16] On 18 December, he presented his government's resignation to the King. The King accepted Michel's resignation on 21 December after consulting party leaders.[17] He remained in office as caretaker prime minister during the2019 federal election, and the ensuing coalition negotiations.
Michel meeting in Warsaw with the Prime Minister of PolandMateusz Morawiecki, 10 November 2021
On 27 September 2020, Michel expressed deep concern over theescalation of hostilities in the disputed region ofNagorno-Karabakh and called onArmenia andAzerbaijan to immediately halt fighting and progress towards a peaceful resolution.[21] AfterFrench-U.S. andFrench-Australia relations suffered a period of tension in September 2021 due to fallout from theAUKUS defense pact between the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia. The security pact is directed at counteringChinese power in theIndo-Pacific region.[22] As part of the agreement, the U.S. agreed to providenuclear-powered submarines to Australia. After entering into AUKUS, the Australian government canceled an agreement that it had made with France for theprovision of French conventionally powered submarines.[22] The EU called the way France was treated "unacceptable" and demanded an explanation.[23][24][25] Michel denounced a "lack of transparency and loyalty" by the United States.[26]
Michel with Azerbaijani PresidentIlham Aliyev and Armenian Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan in Brussels, 14 May 2023
During his tenure, there were internal expressions of discontent, including from a prime minister and diplomats from different EU countries to Michel's administration. The EU summits, for which he is responsible as president, were criticized for being not well organized. During his tenure, he ignored the decisions of theEuropean Commission instead of remaining solution-oriented like his predecessors in office. A diplomatic fauxpas known as the "Sofagate" was described as a symbol of the strained working relationship between Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen and Michel.[27] Following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions against Russia also included asset freezes on theRussian Central Bank,[28] which holds $630 billion inforeign-exchange reserves,[29] to prevent it from offsetting the impact of sanctions.[30] On 5 May, Charles Michel said: "I am absolutely convinced that this is extremely important not only to freeze assets but also to make possible to confiscate it, to make it available for the rebuilding" ofUkraine.[31]
Michel with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping and President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen in Beijing, China, 7 December 2023
In September 2022, Michel met with Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman at his palace inJeddah to discuss strengthening cooperation between the EU andSaudi Arabia.[32] In February 2023, Michel met withEthiopian Prime MinisterAbiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa to normalize EU-Ethiopia relations that had been damaged by theTigray War.[33][34] In September 2023, Michel condemnedAzerbaijan'soffensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and urged the country to immediately stop its military activities and return to dialogue.[35] In October 2023, he said that Russia "betrayed the Armenian people" after Azerbaijan regained control of the disputed zone from Armenian separatists.[36]
Michel with Italian Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni in Rome, 11 April 2024
Following the2020 Georgian parliamentary election, Georgia experienced a political crisis. The rulingGeorgian Dream party was deemed the winner, but the opposition parties said that the election was marred by irregularities and violations, they boycotted the results of the elections and refused to enter the parliament.[37] After Georgian authorities arrested opposition politicianNika Melia, the chairman of the oppositionUnited National Movement (UNM), the country's prime minister resigned and mass street protests ensued.[37]
In March 2021, Michel visited Georgia and participated in talks between Prime MinisterIrakli Garibashvili and the opposition.[38] Michel and the EU's High RepresentativeJosep Borrell appointed Swedish diplomat Christian Danielsson as the EU envoy to mediate political crisis talks in the country.[39] Michel also met Georgian Prime MinisterIrakli Garibashvili in Brussels later that month,[38] and met political leaders inTbilisi in April 2021, after an agreement was signed after several weeks of mediation brokered by Michel and the EU.[38] The agreement was welcomed as a success by theinternational community[40] and local civil society organizations such as theEurope-Georgia Institute,[41] and Michel hailed the agreement as being in "a truly European spirit" that takes Georgia towards a "Euro-Atlantic future."[38]Later the largest opposition party in Tbilisi did not accept the agreement and the ruling party withdrew from it.[27]
Early in the third year of theRussian invasion of Ukraine, roughly 750 days from its start, Michel wrote an op-ed inLa Libre in which he advocated for a war-time economy and consequent re-balancing of expenditures.[42] Simultaneously he proposed aEurobond approach to the problem at a meeting of theEuropean Council, when its presidency was in the hands ofAlexander de Croo.[43]
Michel and his wife Amélie Derbaudrenghien Michel (née Derbaudrenghien) have two children. Amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, the couple postponed their wedding, which was supposed to take place in France in August 2020, to avoid quarantine upon return to Belgium.[45] In October 2021, Derbaudrenghien Michel and Michel's spokesman confirmed that the couple discreetly married over the summer of 2021 with a small celebration.[46] Michel also has a son from a previous relationship.[46]
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