Charles Michel was born on 21 December 1975 in Namur (Belgium). A lawyer by training and a member of the Brussels Bar for 11 years (2003–2014), Charles Michel was elected as a federal member of parliament at the age of 23. He later served as mayor, minister, and party leader before becoming, at 38, the youngest Prime Minister of Belgium. During his term (2014–2019), he successfully led major socio-economic reforms – praised by the OECD - to strengthen competitiveness and ensure security in a context marked by the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. Charles Michel is a man of conviction. At the end of 2018, faced with the refusal of one of his coalition partners to confirm the Belgian support for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, he sought and found an alternative parliamentary majority to sign the Global Compact on behalf of Belgium in Marrakesh on the 10th and 11th of Decembre 2018. On this occasion, he gave a speech at the United Nations gathering that attracted a lot of attention. His speech was a powerful call for more international trust, cooperation and human dignity that still resonates today in light of the current global circumstances. He then handed in his resignation to the King of Belgium. Unanimously elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2022 as President of the European Council from 2019 to 2024, Michel was pivotal in orchestrating the European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing large-scale recovery plans, and providing immediate support to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion. He also prioritized advancing the EU’s unified efforts in addressing climate change and driving digital transformation. Relentlessly, Charles Michel has worked to make the EU more sovereign, more strategic and more master of its own destiny. EU’s strategic autonomy goes hand in hand with more competitiveness, more innovation, more investments, less and smarter regulations and a true European defense. His diplomatic engagements have been extensive, including efforts to mediate a number of conflicts (including in the Caucasus and the Western Balkans) and fostering relations with key global partners. Charles Michel’s leadership has been instrumental in advancing EU enlargement discussions, aiming to integrate countries from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe into the European Union’s family. Over the last ten years, Charles Michel has engaged with global leaders, including Presidents Xi Jinping, Obama, Biden, Trump, Zelensky, Erdogan and Putin, as well as Prime Ministers from India, Japan, China, the UK, and Italy, on issues ranging from security to economic cooperation. He took part in all G7 and G20 meetings between 2019 and 2024. At 50 years of age, Charles Michel has a wealth of experience in policy making, at both strategic and tactical levels, as well as significant experience in managing human and financial resources. He has an in-depth knowledge of global challenges: climate change, artificial intelligence, trade, development and international financial architecture, … and geopolitics. Charles Michel is a Distinguished Professor at the China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Tirana campus, Albania).