For once I am out of Brussels when the EU summit is on. However, that won’t stop me listing the participants as I did six months ago and a year ago:

Jean-Claude Juncker (born 1954), Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 20 January 1995 (EPP)
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960) Prime Minister of Spain since 17 April 2004 (PES) 
Lawrence Gonzi (born 1953) Prime Minister of Malta since 1 May 2004 (EPP) 
José Manuel Barroso (Portuguese, born 1956) President of the European Commission  since 23 November 2004 (EPP)
Andrus Ansip (born 1956) Prime Minister of Estonia since 12 April 2005 (ELDR)
Fredrik Reinfeldt (born 1965) Prime Minister of Sweden since 6 October 2006 (EPP)
Angela Merkel (born 1954) Chancellor of Germany since 22 November 2005 (EPP)
Nicolas Sarkozy (born 1955) President of France since 16 May 2007 (EPP)
Donald Tusk (born 1957) Prime Minister of Poland since 16 November 2007 (EPP) 
Dimitris Christofias (born 1946) President of [Greek] Cyprus since 28 February 2008 (PEL)
Silvio Berlusconi (born 1936) Prime Minister of Italy since 8 May 2008 (EPP) – previously PM 1994-95 and 2001-06
Borut Pahor (born 1963) Prime Minister of Slovenia since 21 November 2008 (PES)
Werner Faymann (born 1960) Chancellor of Austria since 02 December 2008 (PES)
Andrius Kubilius (born 1956) Prime Minister of Lithuania since 09 December 2008 (EPP) – previously PM in 1999-2000, before Lithuania joined the EU
Emil Boc (born 1966) Prime Minister of Romania since 22 December 2008 (EPP)
Valdis Dombrovskis (born 1971) Prime Minister of Latvia since 12 March 2009 (EPP)
Lars Løkke Rasmussen (born 1964) Prime Minister of Denmark since 05 April 2009 (ELDR)
Jerzy Buzek (Polish, born 1940) President of the European Parliament since 14 July 2009 (EPP)
Boyko Borisov (born 1959) Prime Minister of Bulgaria since 27 July 2009 (EPP)
George Papandreou (born 1952) Prime Minister of Greece since 06 October 2009 (PES)
Yves Leterme (born 1960) Prime Minister of Belgium since 25 November 2009 (EPP) – still surviving as caretaker prime minister, more than a year after losing the election
Herman van Rompuy (Belgian, born 1947) President of the European Council since 01 December 2009  (EPP)
David Cameron (born 1966) Prime Minister of United Kingdom since 11 May 2010 (ECR)
Viktor Orbán (born 1963) Prime Minister of Hungary since 29 May 2010 (EPP) – previously PM 1998-2002, before Hungary joined the EU
Iveta Radičová (born 1956) Prime Minister of Slovakia since 8 July 2010 (ECR)
Petr Nečas (born 1964) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since 13 July 2010 (EPP)
Mark Rutte (born 1967) Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010(ELDR)
Enda Kenny (born 1951) Taoiseach since 09 March 2011 (EPP)
Pedro Passos Coelho (born 1964) Prime Minister of Portugal since 21 June 2011 (EPP)
Jyrki Katainen (born 1971) Prime Minister of Finland since 22 June 2011 (EPP)

There have been three changes since the December 2010 summit (Enda Kenny replacing Brian Cowen, Pedro Passos Coelho replacing José Sócrates and Jyrki Katainen replacing Mari Kiviniemi), with Yves Leterme incredibly still in transition. The median political longevity is now held by Boc, who has been in power for two and a half years. Passos Coelho and Katainen are the newest kids on the block, having taken office only this week.

17 of the 27 heads of state and government, and the presidents of all three EU institutions, are in the European People’s Party. (Leterme is still hanging on.) 4 are in the Party of European Socialists, 3 are Liberals. 2 are in the ECR. Christofias remains the only Communist. The EPP have made three gains in the last six months, two from the Liberals (Ireland and Finland) and one from the Socialists (Portugal).

Kiviniemi’s departure leaves two women, Merkel and Radičová.

The recent changes bring the average year of birth back from 1959 to 1958, also the median year of birth if my numbers are right. Buzek is older than any of the national leaders except Berlusconi; Van Rompuy is older than any except Berlusconi and Christofias.

I am still younger than all of them except the Latvian and Finnish prime ministers. (The new Finnish PM is even younger than his predecessor.)