Brussels, 22 October 2021 (dpa/MIA) - An EU summit without German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be like "Paris without the Eiffel Tower" or "Rome without the Vatican," European Council President Charles Michel said, in a warm tribute at what is likely to be be her last such meeting. Hailing her as a "monument," Michel said that her "farewell from the European stage touches us politically but also fills us with emotion." Merkel's "extreme sobriety and simplicity" was "a very powerful seduction weapon," the former Belgian prime minister said. "You are a compass and a shining light of our European project," he concluded. His words were met with a standing ovation, an EU source close to the talks said.