The former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is to be inaugurated to the position of President of the European Council at an official handover ceremony today.

Tusk is the first politician of a former Communist country to assume such a high-ranking position in the EU following the 2004 enlargement.

At the announcement of his appointment on August 30, Tusk said that he was coming from a country which deeply believed in the importance of untied Europe, the Financial Times reports.

Tusk's first tasks on the agenda will be to seek recovery of the EU economy and reaching agreements with Russia on multiple issues.

The Polish succeeds Herman Van Rompuy, who served two consecutive terms since the position of President of the European Council had been established in 2009.

It is believed that Tusk's appointment to the position will present a break with the style which had been established under Van Rompuy, who had always sought compromise and made concessions.

The former Belgian Prime Minister is to start an academic career next year, when he will be teaching a course on EU leadership and decision-making at the College of Europe in Bruges, the EUobserver reports.

The President of the European Council serves a two-and-a-half year term, with the possibility of renewal once, as was the case with Van Rompuy.

Immediately following Tusk's inauguration, negotiations are to begin on Tuesday on the 2015 EU budget, with all three main institutions being involved – European Parliament, European Commission and Council.

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