Herman Van Rompuy the Vlaamse Economische Hogeschool Brussel (VLEKHO now Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel). Van Rompuy is married to Geertrui Windels, with whom he has four children: Peter (born 1980), Laura (born 1981), Elke (born 1983) and Thomas (born 1986). His eldest son, Peter, is active in the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) party and stood as a candidate in the Belgian regional elections of 2009. His younger brother, Eric Van Rompuy, is also a politician in the CD&V and was a minister in the Flemish Government from 1995 to 1999. His sister, Tine Van Rompuy, is a member of the Workers Party of Belgium.
President of the European Council At international summits they continued previous practice of both going at the same time. The complicated situation had renewed some calls to merge the posts, possibly at the end of Barroso's term in 2014. However some member states had expected to oppose the creation of such a high-profile post. If the posts are not to be combined, some believe that the dual-presidential system could lead to "cohabitation" and infighting between the two offices. While it is comparable to the French model, where there is a President (the European Council president) and Prime Minister (the Commission President), the Council president does