Herman Van Rompuy Herman Van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (, ; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who formerly served as Prime Minister of Belgium and then as the first President of the European Council. A politician from Belgium's Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Van Rompuy served as the 49th prime minister of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until Yves Leterme (who was also his predecessor) succeeded him on 25 November 2009. On 19 November 2009 Van Rompuy was selected by the members of the European Council, which is the institution of the European Union (EU) comprising the heads
2007–11 Belgian political crisis until the regional and European Parliament elections in June 2009 or, if possible, until the next federal election in 2011. On 28 December, King Albert II gave Herman Van Rompuy the task of forming a new government, which would include the current ruling parties. Van Rompuy and his government were sworn in on 30 December 2008. On 24 April 2010, the government of Yves Leterme (who had replaced Van Rompuy again when Van Rompuy became President of the European Council) fell over the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde issue. An early election was held on 13 June 2010, resulting in the New Flemish Alliance