The President of the European Council? The EU doesn't have one President who acts as head of state. There are at least four Presidents. Let's meet Herman Van Rompuy.

Backstage: Who's the boss of the EU? (III)

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15708540/J001-0040-EN.srt

Who is the President  of the European Union?

Who's in charge of the European Union?  Do you know?

I think the big boss must be  Herman Van Rompuy.

I think there are three Presidents  but I don't know who the others are.

We can sort that out.  There are four Presidents.

The President of the European  Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

The President of the European Council,  Herman Van Rompuy.

The President of the European  Parliament, Jerzy Buzek.

currently Donald Tusk,  Prime Minister of Poland.

That changes every six months.  What did you say?

There are several, but as I'm Belgian  I'll say it's Herman Van Rompuy, my idol.

He's President  of the European Commission.

The Rotating Presidency  of the European Commission?

You mean the Rotating Presidency  of the European Union. That's not it.

Can I have a lifeline?  I'll phone a friend.

We'll go and find him.  But first I'll outline his duties.

The European Council defends  the interests of the EU Member States.

The Heads of State of the 27 Members  elect its President for two and a half years.

His role is to prepare and chair  their meetings four times a year.

The aim is to set  the EU's political priorities

and give the impetus  to make progress on them.

Hello, Mr President.  Are you the boss of the European Union?

I'm the President  of the European Council.

composed of the Heads of State  or Government

of the 27 Member States  of the European Union.

I'm the President of  the European Council, which is different.

We also have the President of  the Parliament, as in every country,

and we have  the President of the Commission.

The Commission is  in some way the government,

responsible for the daily management  of the Union.

OK, that makes three Presidents.  There's one missing.

Every six months,  another country becomes responsible

for the management  of the Councils of Ministers.

But they work for us,  for the European Council,

and they work on a proposal  from the European Commission.

We'll talk about the Rotating Presidency  in the next Backstage. Bye.