Media accreditation for the Informal meeting of the members of the European Council on 22 January 2026 19:30 Information about accreditation requirements for the Informal[...]

The President of the European Council, António Costa, is convening an Informal meeting of the members of the European Council

This informal meeting will take place on 22 January 2026, starting at 19:00 in the Europa building in Brussels. Address: Rue de la Loi 155/Wetstraat 155, 1040-Brussels.The press centre remains located in the Justus Lipsius building. Address Rue de la Loi 175/Wetstraat 175, 1040-Brussels.

Registration

Due to the short notice, only these categories of media representatives will be eligible for accreditation:

• Applicants who already received a confirmation of their 1-year Council summit badge for 2026. No additional registration needed in this case
• Applicants who have applied, before the deadline on Friday 16 January at 14:00, for the Informal EU Leaders' retreat in Alden Biesen. You will need to register separately here
• Applicants who didn't register for the two categories above, or did not yet receive a confirmation, but attended the European Council summit in October or December 2025. You will need to register separately here

Badge Collection
The security perimeter will be in place as from 20:00 in the evening of Wednesday 21. You can collect your badge ahead of the meeting at the Justus Lipsius accreditation desk. A media accreditation desk will be set up on Thursday 22 at the LEX building (Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 145) outside the security perimeter, to allow for collection of badges during the event.

Opening hours:

• Wednesday 21 January: from 7:30 to 19:00 (Justus Lipsius accreditation desk)
• Thursday 22 January: from 7:30 to 19:00 (LEX accreditation desk)

Indicative programme

All times are approximate and subject to change

Thursday 22 January

17:30 Arrivals and doorsteps (live stream 1)
19:00 European Council working dinner

At the end of the meeting (TTBC) a press conference will take place in the Justus Lipsius room (live streaming).

Press materials

Videos and photos of the summits will be available on: