BACKGROUND: Virgins and veterans - the EU's seniority list

Nov 11, 2009, 9:53 GMT

   Brussels - The European Union's leaders in order of seniority, based on the total amount of time they have been in power (including repeat terms of office).

<#> Rank Name Country Time in power

1 Jean-Claude Juncker Luxembourg 14 years 10 months 2 Jan Peter Balkenende Netherlands 7 years 4 months 3 Silvio Berlusconi Italy 7 years 1 month 4 Matti Vanhhanen Finland 6 years 5 months 5 Jose Luis Zapatero Spain 5 years 7 months 6 Jose Socrates Portugal 4 years 8 months 7 Andrus Ansip Estonia 4 years 7 months 8 Angela Merkel Germany 4 years 9 Robert Fico Slovakia 3 years 4 months 10 Fredrik Reinfeldt Sweden 3 years 3 months 11 Nicolas Sarkozy France 2 years 6 months 12 Gordon Brown Britain 2 years 5 months 13 Donald Tusk Poland 2 years 14 Andrius Kubilius Lithuania 1 year 11 months 15 Dimitris Christofias Cyprus 1 year 9 months 16 Lawrence Gonzi Malta 1 year 8 months 17 Brian Cowen Ireland 1 year 6 months 18 Borut Pahor Slovenia 1 year 19 Werner Faymann Austria 11 months 20 Emil Boc (c) Romania 11 months 21 Herman Van Rompuy Belgium 11 months 22 Valdis Dombrovskis Latvia 8 months 23 Lars Lokke Rasmussen Denmark 7 months 24 Gordon Bajnai Hungary 7 months 25 Jan Fischer (c) Czech Rep 6 months 26 Boyko Borisov Bulgaria 4 months 27 George Papandreou Greece 1 month <#>

The symbol (c) indicates a caretaker role.