Sophie Wilmès is operating within the EU election and can lead the checklist of the francophone centrist social gathering Mouvement Réformateur (MR).
The choice was taken by the social gathering throughout a gathering on Saturday in Brussels, Le Soir reported.
Wilmès replaces European Council President Charles Michel, who introduced his bid to run within the EU election in January however pulled out a short time later in a dramatic U-turn after his candidacy sparked a serious backlash.
Wilmès, 49, is a former Belgian prime minister who took over from Michel in 2019 and led the nation through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. She then turned international affairs minister in 2020-2022 however took a step again from politics in 2022 to take care of her dying husband.
The MR is a part of the liberal Renew Europe group within the European Parliament.