A video shows the Luxembourger interrupting his speech at a press conference at the summit of the Heads of State of the European Union and the League of Arab States in Egypt on 24 February.

After hanging up, he told the audience, “It was the usual suspect... my wife”, who was trying to reach him, to which they responded with laughter.

“I have to stop here because she will not stop there,” he added.

Juncker, who served as Luxembourg prime minister from 1995-2013, is known for his quirky behaviour.

In October 2018, he did a light-hearted dance on-stage at the European Committee of the regions plenary session in Brussels, prompting some to suggest he was mocking the UK prime minister Theresa May’s awkward Abba dance at her Conservative Party conference, the same year.

It was not the first time that Juncker had answered his phone during a press conference. At a conference in July 2017, he told the crowd his wife was calling then corrected himself saying it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the line.