President of the European Council the European Union. The President does have, however, his own private office ("cabinet") of close advisers. Van Rompuy chose as his first chief of staff ("chef de cabinet") Baron Frans van Daele, formerly Belgian ambassador to, variously, the USA, the UN, the EU and NATO and chief of staff of several Belgian foreign ministers. Upon his retirement in the autumn of 2012, Didier Seeuws, former Deputy Perm Rep of Belgium to the EU and former Spokesman for Belgian PM Verhofstadt, replaced him. Also in his team were the former UK Labour MEP Richard Corbett and Van Rompuy's long standing press
Tine Van Rompuy Transport Service at the University Hospital of Leuven. In 2009, Van Rompuy helped to design an election campaign poster showing her brother, Prime minister Herman Van Rompuy, dressed as a circus clown. This attracted some attention, and according to some media reports, they have not spoken since. However, Van Rompuy said on her personal weblog that she is "happy that [her] brother will be president of Europe", and that she would give him a "little box" with a message that "the 2 % who are the richest, pay a tax of 2% on their wealth". She is married to John