On 1 December, Herman Van Rompuy handed the presidency of the European Council to Donald Tusk. The former Belgian prime minister served two terms as head of the EU summit, now the baton is in the hands of the Polish ex-prime minister. Mr Tusk was elected to the post this summer by the heads of state and government of the EU28, for a term of 30 months. As President, Mr Tusk will be in charge of organizing the EU summits, the European Council, steering the debate and looking for compromise if needed. Also, he will represent the EU internationally.

Mr Tusk is the first politician from the new Member States in the Eastern part of the EU to obtain such high profile EU job. In Poland he served as prime minister and leader of the currently strongest political party, the center-right liberal Civic Platform. Unlike many of his colleagues in the European Council, he also won one re-election, in 2011, being the first Polish PM to be re-elected after the fall of communism.