Poland's Donald Tusk takes over as European Council president on Monday, the first person from Eastern Europe to take a top Brussels role, with a mandate to revive the economy.

With his direct manner and piercing blue eyes, the 57-year-old former prime minister promises a contrast with Herman Van Rompuy, the outgoing council chief and the first person to hold the post.

Former Belgian leader Van Rompuy was a conciliatory figure during his five years at the head of the council of all 28 EU leaders, and was known for writing Japanese haiku poems and once described as having the "charisma of a damp rag".

But Tusk will be a different proposition, with his roots in Poland's Solidarity movement.

"He speaks for himself, and often says exactly what he thinks," a diplomat said.

Tusk completes the EU's new top trio for the next five years, alongside Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the union's executive branch, the European Commission, and foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

"His perspective is very different from the West Europeans," said Agnieszka Lada from the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw.

"He will seek more comprehension for what the Balts, the Polish, the Czechs or the Hungarians are thinking."

After years dominated by the euro's debt crisis, Tusk will also direct the EU toward a "stronger role in foreign policy", a European source said.

The first challenge will be the crisis in Ukraine, with NATO foreign ministers set to discuss the issue in Brussels on Tuesday.

Tusk has also made it a priority to revive the economy after years of crisis.

Juncker unveiled a 315-billion-euro ($392 billion) investment plan on Wednesday with an appeal to EU states to contribute, starting with Germany, and at the first European summit Tusk leads on Dec 18, he is set to call for the plan to be launched as soon as possible.

Together with Juncker he will also try to keep Britain from leaving the EU, a possibility British Prime Minister David Cameron again raised as he unveiled migrant welfare reforms on Friday.

'Polish' his English

Born on April 22, 1957, in Gdansk, the Polish port city that gave birth to the Solidarity movement, Tusk is a dedicated liberal.

The soccer-loving historian took power in 2007 from the ultraconservative Kaczynski twins, and his seven years as prime minister made him a veteran of European Council meetings by the time he was appointed its leader.

Tusk "has to learn to negotiate on the European level", added Lada, the Warsaw analyst, saying he was more used to being the "strong man" of domestic politics.

To understand Brussels, he can count on his Cabinet chief, Piotr Serafin, the former Polish minister of European Affairs, she said.

Meanwhile Tusk has, since August, apparently mastered what was widely seen as his weakness - his shaky command of English.

On his appointment he joked that he would "polish" his English and three months later it is fine, his entourage says.