John Bruton for Education and Skills. On 29 October 2009, it was announced that he had written to the Ambassadors to the United States of the 27 members of the European Union expressing his interest in applying for the position of President of the European Council following implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. Bruton was very much an outside shot for the position as EU leaders firmly indicated they want a chairman-style president rather than a high-profile figurehead to fill the post. Herman Van Rompuy, the then Belgian Prime Minister, was appointed President of the European Council on 19 November 2009 and took
President of the European Union of the European Union, "President" of the European Council and "Prime Commissioner" would give a clearer indication of their respective roles. During the height of the Commission President's powers in the late-1980s and 1990s, the Commission President was sometimes referred to as the Europe's Prime Minister and the role of the President is similar to that of a national Prime Minister chairing a cabinet. The formulation of titles is not without precedent in Europe; for comparison, the title for the Prime Minister of Spain in Spanish is the "Presidente del Gobierno" ("President of the Government"), not Prime Minister. The Presidents