Nigel Farage the European Parliament he had received a total of £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses. In response, Farage said that in future all UKIP MEPs would provide monthly expense details. After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 to the European Parliament, Farage – to protests from other MEPs – addressed the former Belgian Prime Minister and first long-term President of the European Council saying that he had the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk". Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment, asking, "Who
President of the European Commission international summits, both Presidents go at the same time to represent the Union, with, in principle, the Commission President speaking on economic questions and the European Council President on political questions, although this division is often hard to maintain in practice. Although there are concerns that this competition with the new European Council President would lead to increased infighting, there are provisions for combining the two offices. The European Council President may not hold a national office, such as a Prime Minister of a member state, but there is no such restraint on European offices. So the Commission President, who