European heads of state and government had a working dinner in Brussels on 19 November to appoint the new EU's key posts: High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and President of the European Council.

The top posts created by the Lisbon treaty will be filled on the basis of political agreement reached unanimously at the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on 19 November in Brussels, convened by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the Union's rotating presidency.

Herman Van Rompuy will leave his post of Belgian Prime Minister to become the President of the European Council. He will be in charge of preparing and chairing the European Council's meetings and assuring the continuity of its work. He will also represent the EU on the international stage. His mandate covers two and a half years, renewable once.

Catherine Ashton, currently in charge of trade in the European Commission, will take up the post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. She will chair the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and will hold the post of Vice-President of the European Commission.

French Pierre de Boissieu,  the current Deputy Secretary General of the Council of the EU, will become its Secretary General.

The formal decisions on these appointments will be taken once the Lisbon Treaty  has entered into force, on 1 December 2009. After the ratification of the treaty by the Czech Republic, the Treaty of Lisbon will establish a new order for Europe.