Brussels, Belgium, Nov 29 (AFP/APP):Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa is hoping to bring his reputation as an affable deal-broker to bear in one of the EU’s trickiest gigs — trying to build agreement among the bloc’s fractious leaders. The bespectacled socialist, 63, on Sunday will become president of the European Council as part of the shake-up of top positions in Brussels that happens every five years. In that role he will chair the regular summits bringing together the heads of the EU’s 27 member states that are notorious for their long hours and late-night bartering. It will be down to Costa to try to overcome often clashing interests and steward them towards some kind of consensus as Europe grapples with thorny issues from the war in Ukraine to dealing with Donald Trump or revamping its economy. Unlike his Belgian predecessor Charles Michel, who ruffled feathers as he sought to promote himself as the EU’s figurehead, those familiar with Costa’s thinking say he’s planning to take a lower-key approach. “He wants to be less like a showman and more like a facilitator,” one senior European diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. To do that Costa has already toured around EU capitals asking leaders he knows well from his years at the top table what they want to do differently. And he’s keen to have a far smoother relationship — and frequent meetings — with powerful European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen after bad blood between her and Michel soured EU cooperation.
:Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa is hoping to bring his reputation as an){kind=link}