President of the European Union (or President of Europe) could be a reference to any of:
Among the cases presented above, referring to the President of the European Council as the President of the European Union (EU) is very common in the international media. Nevertheless, the post presides only over the European Council - an institution of the EU - rather than presiding over the EU as a whole.
Prior to the Treaty of Lisbon, each member state (in turn) took the responsibilities of both the Presidency of the European Council and the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The press frequently summarised these responsibilities to the shorthand tag "EU Presidency" or "EU President", both for the country holding it or its political leader. Nevertheless, this, too, was a misnomer.