Costa’s Quiet Diplomacy: European Council President Rounds Up National Leaders Ahead of Brussels Season

European Council President António Costa has held a series of bilateral meetings with EU heads of state and government, according to official statements released by the institution. On 3 September 2026, Costa hosted Romanian President Nicușor Dan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for back-to-back discussions. A month later, on 9 October 2026, Costa met with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten. While official releases confirm the encounters occurred, specific policy agendas were not detailed in the published statements. Records show a minor administrative overlap across sources: the consultation with Greece’s prime minister on 3 September was logged independently by both the Council of the European Union press office and the European Council.

For European citizens, these encounters might look like routine political photo opportunities, but they represent the machinery that actually keeps the European Union moving. The European Council—the formal grouping of all 27 national presidents and prime ministers—does not pass laws directly. Instead, it sets the EU's overall political direction and handles its most delicate compromises. When 27 national leaders gather in a room, unanimity rarely happens by accident. Pre-summit bilateral meetings allow the Council President to discover where national red lines sit long before leaders sit down under the television lights in Brussels. Resolving those friction points in quiet office chats prevents full-blown diplomatic standoffs during formal summit dinners.

In the EU political galaxy, the art of pre-summit negotiation is known simply as building consensus—or, less charitably, diplomatic risk management. The European Council President’s primary job description is not to dictate policy, but to serve as the chief mediator among 27 political leaders, all of whom face domestic voters back home. These bilateral sessions, often referred to inside the EU quarter as "bilats," serve as a confidential sounding board. In formal summit rooms, leaders are often obliged to speak for their domestic cameras. In a private office with the Council President, they can quietly indicate what compromise they might actually accept when the negotiating clock runs past midnight. The fact that Costa spaced these meetings across September and October illustrates the continuous, rolling nature of Brussels diplomacy: consensus is not built in a single marathon summit night, but assembled piece by piece over weeks of quiet administrative footwork.

Following these bilateral talks, the discussions feed directly into the preparation of upcoming European Council summits. Draft conclusions—the official documents setting out what 27 leaders agree upon—will be circulated among national diplomats in Brussels, known as Coreper (the Committee of Permanent Representatives). Diplomats from the 27 member states will spend the coming weeks arguing over every bracketed phrase in those draft texts. If the preparatory work by Costa and national capitals succeeds, the final summit will end with a polished statement of European unity; if not, negotiations will spill into the early hours of the morning, precisely as Brussels tradition demands.