In the European Parliament building, Costa is to attend a ceremony in which a room is to be named after Soares, who died in January last year at the age of 92.

The proposal to name a room in the European Parliament building after Soares was put forward by Portuguese Socialists in the assembly, in recognition of his “career as a protagonist of great importance in the construction of the European project.” The proposal was backed by the leader of the Socialist and Democrats group in parliament, and supported by the assembly’s president, Antonio Tajani.

Soares was a fervent Europhile who was president when Portugal joined the European Economic Community in 1986. Several years after his term ended, he made a return to politics to become a member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party, from 1999 to 2004.

Before his two terms as president he had been prime minister of Portugal. He was a founder member of the Socialist Party.

Costa’s day in Brussels is to include a meeting with the European Council’s president, Donald Tusk, and end with a working dinner with the European Commission’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker. Both discussions are expected to focus on Europe’s future.

In the afternoon, the prime minister is to address a plenary session of the Committee of Regions, at which he is expected to argue in favour of maintaining EU funding for less-developed regions and stress the importance of regions and municipalities in “European construction”.