Papasavvas elected President of the General Court until August 2028

The judges of the General Court of the European Union have elected Savvas Papasavvas as President of the court for the period from 16 September 2026 to 31 August 2028. The election was held at the court’s meeting of 16 September 2026 and conducted under Article 9(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court. The outcome was published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 1 October 2026 under reference C/2026/5129.

The General Court is the second-highest judicial body of the European Union and the court of first instance for most direct actions brought against the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union. Its President directs the court’s judicial business, chairs its meetings and exercises the powers conferred by the Rules of Procedure, which makes this appointment a decision with direct consequences for how cases are allocated and processed.

A mandate running to August 2028

The election was decided by the judges themselves, not by the Member States or the political institutions, in line with the internal procedure laid down in the court’s own rules. The essential terms of the appointment are:

• Elected official: Savvas Papasavvas, President of the General Court.
• Electing body: the Judges of the General Court, meeting on 16 September 2026.
• Legal basis: Article 9(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court.
• Term of office: from 16 September 2026 to 31 August 2028.
• Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, 1 October 2026, reference C/2026/5129.

The end date of 31 August 2028 aligns the presidency with the court’s existing mandate cycle rather than opening a full new term, so the appointment covers the remainder of the current period.

A court of 54 judges

The General Court currently comprises 54 Judges, according to the European Parliament’s resolution of 29 April 2026 on the 2024 discharge of the Court of Justice of the European Union budget, published in the Official Journal on 10 September 2026 as Resolution (EU) 2026/1583. The same resolution records that the Court of Justice is composed of 27 Judges and 11 Advocates General.

The presidency changes hands as the court continues to absorb the partial transfer of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice to the General Court, a reform in force since 1 October 2024. The Parliament’s resolution notes that 19 preliminary rulings had already been transferred in the first three months after the reform took effect, and that the only additional costs associated with it were IT-related, for the development of a new case-processing tool, amounting to approximately EUR 805 000.

A companion appointment at the top of the court

The same issue of the Official Journal carries a second leadership appointment at the General Court. Meeting on 23 September 2026, the judges elected M.J. Costeira Vice-President of the court under Article 9(4) of the Rules of Procedure, for a term running from 23 September 2026 to 31 August 2028, as recorded under reference C/2026/5130. Both mandates therefore expire on the same date, leaving the court’s two most senior posts filled for the remainder of the current judicial cycle.

For readers following how European justice is administered, the significance lies in continuity of case management rather than in a change of direction: the General Court keeps a single President in place through the period in which the transferred preliminary-ruling workload and the court’s digital case-processing tools are being consolidated, and the pairing of the presidency and vice-presidency on one common end date removes any ambiguity about who leads the court until 31 August 2028.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, No C/2026/5129, 1 October 2026, Section I (official reference: C/2026/5129).