Costa given farewell gift by European Council

Portugal’s outgoing Prime Minister António Costa (PS) will receive a statuette alluding to the headquarters of the European Council at what will be his last EU summit in Brussels after eight years in power.

A source at the European institution told Lusa news agency that “a commemorative gift has been developed exclusively for members of the European Council on the occasion of their departure from the institution,” which is an “artistic impression of the Europa building, the emblematic seat of the European Council.”

“Each piece will be personalised for the outgoing leader,” he said.

The sculpture is by Maxim Duterre, a young industrial designer and artist born in Brussels.

Earlier, another source at the European Council told Euractiv’s partner Lusa that, at what could be the prime minister’s last European summit, given the results of the parliamentary elections, a farewell video will be shown, featuring some of the images of Costa’s participation in high-level summits during the eight years he represented Portugal as head of government.

The EU heads of state and government are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. The summit will be devoted to foreign affairs, such as the conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

As prime minister since November 2015, Costa has been Portugal’s representative on the European Council and is one of the most experienced of his colleagues.

In the legislative election on 10 March, the Democratic Alliance (AD), which combines the PSD, CDS, and PPM, won 29.49% of the vote and 79 seats in parliament, compared to 77 for Costa’s PS (28.66%) and 48 for Chega (18.06%).

On Wednesday, the votes cast by Portuguese expatriates who voted by post will be counted, and the four MEPs from the Europe and Outside Europe constituencies will be elected.

(Ana Matos Neves – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)