Charles Yves Jean Ghislaine Michel (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl miʃɛl]; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who is the current interim Prime Minister of Belgium and President-elect of the European Council. He is the son of Louis Michel, also a prominent politician. Charles Michel was the leader of the francophone liberal party Mouvement Réformateur (MR) since February 2011 until becoming Prime Minister. Michel is the youngest Belgian Prime Minister since 1845. Since December 2018, he heads a caretaker government following his resignation after the government collapsed.
On 2 July 2019 the European Council President Donald Tusk announced a deal reached by EU Leaders which would make Michel his successor. He is scheduled to assume the office on 1 December 2019.
Early career
Charles Michel was born in Namur, Wallonia, on 21 December 1975. His father, Louis Michel, is a Reformist Movement (MR) politician who was mayor of Jodoigne and subsequently a European Commissioner and Member of the European Parliament (MEP). His mother is Martine Pierre.
Charles 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, Charles Michel was elected provincial councilor in Walloon Brabant. He graduated in law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the University 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.
Political career
Early career
Michel has been elected to the federal Chamber of Representatives since 1999, representing Walloon Brabant, a stronghold of the liberal MR.
In 2000, he became Minister of Home Affairs in the Walloon Government. Aged 25, he became the youngest minister in Belgium’s history. At the local level, he was elected city councillor in Wavre in 2000. In 2006, he became mayor of the city.
In December 2007, Michel became the Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation in the Verhofstadt III Government and subsequently in the Leterme I, Van Rompuy I and Leterme II governments.
In 2009, he declared himself to be shocked by statements of Pope Benedict XVI claiming that condoms promoted AIDS, calling the statements “astounding, scandalous and even irresponsible.”
After the June 2009 regional elections, Michel was part of a group demanding the MR leader Didier Reynders to step down. After the party suffered further losses in the June 2010 federal elections, Reynders eventually stepped down. Charles Michel then announced his candidacy for leader of MR. In January 2011 he was elected leader of the Mouvement Réformateur, for which he resigned as Minister for Development Cooperation. Charles Michel and Didier Reynders are longtime rivals within their party.
Prime Minister of Belgium
After the 2014 federal elections, Michel became co-formateur in the 2014 Belgian government formation. Initially, CD&V Kris Peeterswas expected to be Prime Minister. However, CD&V also insisted on Marianne Thyssen becoming European Commissioner. The other parties would not accept CD&V holding the two most important political posts.
Ultimately, the parties agreed to propose Thyssen for European Commission, with the Prime Minister to come from one of the liberal parties (MR or Open VLD. As Michel was serving as co-formateur, it became clear that he would lead the next government. When on 7 October 2014 an overall agreement was reached between four parties to form a new government, Michel was formally proposed to lead the Michel Government, with Peeters as one of four Deputy Prime Ministers. Michel is the youngest Belgian cabinet leader since 1841 and the youngest ever with the title of Prime Minister of Belgium. He is only the second Francophone liberal to become Prime Minister.
When Michel formally succeeded Elio Di Rupo, he became the first francophone Prime Minister to succeed another francophone in almost 50 years, when Pierre Harmel was succeeded by Paul Vanden Boeynants.
In December 2018, a political crisis emerged over whether to sign the Global Compact for Migration. Michel’s coaltition partner N-VA, which originally supported the Compact, reversed course to oppose it whereas the other three parties continued to support it. Prime minister Michel subsenquently announced the formation of a minority government with CD&V, MR and Open Vld, backing the compact. 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.
Presidency of the European Council
On 2 July 2019, Michel was elected President of the European Council, one of the most prominent leadership positions of the European Union.
Honours
Belgium: Grand Officer, Order of Leopold
References
- ^ https://www.politico.eu/article/michel-takes-belgium-lead-of-belgian-caretaker-government/
- ^ Europese knoop ontward: Charles Michel wordt voorzitter van de Europese Raad
- ^ “Charles Michel officiellement candidat à la présidence du MR”. Le Vif. 13 December 2010.
- ^ “20 March 2008 – Royal Orders. Government – Dismissals – Appointments” (PDF) (in Dutch and French). The Belgian Official Journal. 21 March 2008. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
- ^ “Les déclarations du pape sur le préservatif sous le feu du parlement”. 7sur7.be. 25 March 2009.
- ^ “Michel vs. Reynders: waarom de MR elke keer wat anders zegt”. De Morgen. 27 June 2014.
- ^ “Dit waren de jongste en de oudste eerste ministers van ons land”. Het Belang van Limburg. 8 October 2014
- ^ “BIOGRAFIE. Charles Michel wordt jongste premier uit Belgische geschiedenis”. De Standaard. 7 October 2014
- ^ “Charles Michel confirme qu’il ira à Marrakech: “Je prends acte que la N-VA quitte la majorité suédoise““. Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 8 December 2018.
- ^ “Michel zet minderheidsregering zonder N-VA in de steigers”. De Tijd (in Dutch). 8 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
- ^ News, Flanders (8 December 2018). ““Road to minority government being paved““. vrtnws.be. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
- ^ “Koning zet consultaties ook morgen nog verder: geen gesprek met Vlaams Belang”. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 20 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ Europese knoop ontward: Charles Michel wordt voorzitter van de Europese Raad
- ^ arrêtés royaux du 21 mai 2014
- ^ Michiels, Alix; Van Hecke, Robert (2016). “Un enfant trouvé dans la généalogie de notre premier ministre à Anvers en 1834”. GéniWal (69): 8–17. Retrieved 11 February2017.