The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has denied running up “extravagant” travel bills, after his use of private jets came under scrutiny.
Michel, who is responsible for organising EU summits, said his travel bill was higher than his predecessors because of the demands of representing Europe on the world stage during the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
In a series of interviews with Belgian media, Michel said EU leaders had asked him to play a greater international role and given him their “total support” when his mandate was renewed for a further two and a half years in March 2022.
His comments came after Le Monde reported on his use of costly private jets, including for short hops to Paris, as well as other cities well served by commercial airlines, such as Berlin and Vienna. According to a document published on his European Council webpage, Michel flew from Brussels to Paris in February for a meeting on combating terrorism in the Sahel, at a cost of €4,379 (£3,867), rather than take the frequently running fast train service that connects the cities in a 1hr 22min journey. He routinely uses private jets, which are up to 14 times more polluting for each passenger than commercial flights, for his trips to the European parliament’s second seat in Strasbourg, with costs ranging from €1,283 to €9,049 for his return-trip ticket alone.
The total costs cited by Le Monde were significantly higher, however, because the public register does not disclose the costs of transporting Michel’s officials. Citing copies of travel bills it had seen, Le Monde reported that the total cost of the private jet to the Paris dinner to discuss the Sahel was €35,750, while the bill for one Strasbourg trip alone came in at €35,000, once the charges for Michel’s entourage were factored in.
Last November a journey by private jet taking Michel and his entourage to Beijing to meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, cost€460,000; only Michel’s €32,895 travel costs were publicly declared. At the time, some senior EU diplomats raised eyebrows at the trip, as Michel travelled without the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who oversees EU law and trade deals that could affect China.
According to Politico, council officials have forecast a €1.9m travel budget for Michel in 2024, a 34% year-on-year increase. Speaking to the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir, Michel neither confirmed nor denied these figures, but defended the cost of his trips, which are described as “missions” in EU jargon. “It costs more than before because the situation requires it,” he said. “But this is not extravagant spending. It is simply the necessity to honour international action in the interests of Europe.”
“There are more missions, so there are more expenses,” he told the paper. “But what do we want? To leave an empty chair? To let proliferate Russia’s lies that it would be [EU] sanctions which would create famine in Africa?”
He told the Belgian broadcaster RTL that the meeting in China had been “totally essential” and made it possible to resume a dialogue on human rights with Beijing. A source close to Michel told Le Monde that it was not possible to book a seat on a commercial flight, as this would have required two-weeks quarantine under China’s Covid rules.
Michel is the third full-time head of the European Council since the role switched from a rotating presidency in 2009 with the aim of making the EU function better. The holder has the task of chairing European summits and representing the EU’s foreign and security policy. However, there is an inbuilt tension with other senior officeholders, including Von der Leyen at the commission, and the EU’s foreign affairs chief, currently Josep Borrell.
Michel has sought a bigger profile on the international stage than his predecessors. He has attempted to mediate between long-warring neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan, and has sought to end the political crisis in Georgia. After meeting Xi last year, Michel said he urged the Chinese leader to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The Belgian former prime minister will be 48 when he stands down in autumn 2024, and is widely seen as looking for another international job, such as becoming the EU’s next foreign policy chief. He declined to be drawn on his next steps, saying: “Those who peddle these anonymous rumours intend me no good.”
