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The secretary-general of the Council of the European Union heads the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In October 2022, the Council appointed Thérèse Blanchet^[1] as the Secretary-General of the Council for a five-year term, from 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2027.

Previously, the post holder was also the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy,^[2] President of the European Defence Agency^[3] and the Western European Union.^[4] The Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force in 1999, created the office of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and specified that the Secretary-General would occupy that position simultaneously. Javier Solana exercised both functions from 1999 until 2009. The Lisbon Treaty, which took effect on 1 December 2009, redefined the post of High Representative and again separated it from the office of Secretary-General of the Council.

As of 2010, the secretary-general's basic pay is equal to that of a top-tier civil servant: €17,697.68 per month.^[5][6]

List of secretaries-general

No.	Portrait	Secretary-General	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Country
1		Calmes, ChristianChristian Calmes (1913–1995)	9 September 1952	14 June 1973	20 years, 278 days	Luxembourg
2		Hommel, NicolasNicolas Hommel	1 July 1973	7 October 1980	7 years, 98 days	Luxembourg
3		Ersbøll, NielsNiels Ersbøll (born 1926)	8 October 1980	31 August 1994	13 years, 327 days	Denmark
4		Trumpf, JürgenJürgen Trumpf (1931–2023)	1 September 1994	17 October 1999	5 years, 46 days	Germany
5		Solana, JavierJavier Solana (born 1942)	18 October 1999	1 December 2009	10 years, 44 days	Spain
6		Boissieu, PierrePierre de Boissieu (born 1945)	1 December 2009	26 June 2011	1 year, 207 days	France
7		Corsepius, UweUwe Corsepius (born 1960)	26 June 2011	30 June 2015	4 years, 4 days	Germany
8		Tranholm, JeppeJeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen (born 1962)	1 July 2015	7 October 2022	7 years, 98 days	Denmark
8		Blanchet, ThérèseThérèse Blanchet (born 1962)	1 November 2022		4 years, 364 days	France

See also

• President of the European Council
• The General Secretariat of the Council

References