The leaders of the European Union

Jose Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Durão Barroso was born on the 23rd of March, 1956 in Lisbon, Portugal. Barroso has been the President of the European Commission since 1 November 2004. Barroso graduated from the University of Lisbon in Law and received an MSc in Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Geneva.

Barroso was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 until 29th of June 2004, before he took the position in the EU institution from the previous president of the European Commission Romano Prodi. Being the PM in Portugal, Barroso supported the United States of America's position in Iraq which provoked much protest within society and government.

Barroso started being active in politics in 1974 by joining the Carnation Revolution (25 April 1974) and being a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1980.

Barroso was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Portugal from 1992 to 1995. In the year 1999 Barroso was elected and gained the position of the president of the Social Democratic Party. Barroso became a member of the European Movement in 1991 which was a result of his interest in the EU, and by founding the University Association for European studies in the year 1979.

Barroso was appointed to be the President of the European Commission in June, 2004, and his Commission Barroso has received many awards, honours and recognition from his activity in politics and the science, such as the award for the Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993 and the Personality of the Year in 1991 by the Foreign Press Association in Portugal. Barroso is married to Margarida Sousa Uva and has three children.

Jerzy Buzek

Jerzy Buzek (born on3 July 1940 in Smilovice, Poland) was the  President of the European Parliament between July 2009 and January 2012. Between 1997 and 2001, he was the Prime Minister of Poland and a member of the Polish parliament.

Buzek attended the grammar school in Chorzów and got his Matura there. After successful exams, he went to the Technical University of Silesia. In Silesia, Jerzy Buzek studied chemistry and got a diploma in 1963. In the years 1971 and 1972, he researched at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. During his studies and time spent in research, Buzek wrote about 200 patents and other papers.

During his time as the Prime Minister of Poland, his success was that Poland joined NATO on 1998. In 2004, he got elected to be a member of the European Parliament. Buzek got Doctorates honoris causa from the University of Dortmund, the University of Seoul, the University of Isparta and also from the Technical Universities of Opole and Silesia.

Herman van Rompuy

E.U.'s 27 member states to serve as permanent President of the European Council. The low-profile Van Rompuy, 62, emerged as a favourite after former British Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to win over liberal EU leaders, in part due to his support for the invasion of Iraq.

Though he offers little international experience, Van Rompuy has won praise for bringing stability to his nation's fractious politics and, before that, helping balance its financial books. strong opponent of Turkey's admission to the EU, Van Rompuy begins his 2½-year term on 1 January 2010.

He was born 31 October 1947, in Brussels and attended Sint-Jan Berchmans College, a Jesuit school in the Belgian capital, before studying philosophy and economics at the Catholic University of Leuven.

He worked at Belgium's central bank from 1972 to 1975 and became active in the Flemish Christian Democrat party beginning in 1973, and headed the party from 1988 to 1993.

He served as Belgium's Budget Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1999. A budget hard-liner, he successfully lowered the country's significant debt load. He later joined Belgium's Parliament, leading the lower house from July 2007 to December 2008.

He appointed Prime Minister in December 2008. He reportedly required 90 minutes of persuasion by King Albert II to accept the position. As Prime Minister, his moderate temperament and fair-minded style has helped calm tensions between the nation's rival French- and Flemish-speaking cultures, easing a rift that once threatened to divide the country of 10 million.

He is married with several children and the author of six books on economics and politics. He goes on regular Catholic retreats to the ancient monastery of Affligem Abbey and is known for writing haiku in Flemish.

Catherine Ashton

Baroness Catherine Ashton has been appointed as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. She has been European Commissioner for Trade since October 2008. During her time as Trade Commissioner she has initialled an ambitious and farreaching free trade agreement with South Korea, and solved a number of highprofile trade disputes with major trading partners.She has also championed trade as a means of promoting development around the world, putting the EU's economic relationship with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on a firmer footing.

Catherine Ashton has represented the European Union in the Doha Round of world trade talks, and built on already strong bilateral trade and investment relationships. As Trade Commissioner she co-chaired the EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue with Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan.