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The President of the European Council (sometimes referred to as the President of the European Union) is a principal representative of the European Union (EU) on the world stage, and the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council.〔(Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community ), Article 9 B〕 This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as the President of the European Commission, and provides political direction to the European Union (EU). The current president is the former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. From 1975 to 2009, the head of the European Council was an unofficial position (often referred to as ''President-in-Office'') held by the head of state or government of the member state holding the semiannually rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union at any given time. However, since the Treaty of Lisbon, article 15 of Treaty on European Union states that the European Council appoints a full-time president for a two-and-a-half-year term, with the possibility of renewal once. Appointments, as well as the removal of incumbents, require a double majority support in the European Council. On 19 November 2009, the European Council agreed that its first president under the Lisbon Treaty would be Herman Van Rompuy (European People's Party, Belgium). Van Rompuy took office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009 with a term stretching until 31 May 2012.〔http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/111607.pdf Official European Council statement on the measures taken regarding the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon〕 His term was later extended with a second period ending on 30 November 2014. The current president, for the term 1 December 2014 until 31 May 2017, is the former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. ==History== The first meeting of all EU (then EC) heads of state or government was held in 1961 as an informal summit, but only became formalised in 1974, when it was baptised "European Council" by the then French president Giscard d'Estaing. The Presidency of the European Council was based on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with it being hosted by the member state holding the Council Presidency, rotating every six months. As the European Council is composed of national leaders, it was chaired by the head of state or government of the Presidency state. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「President of the European Council」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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