Herman Van Rompuy 2007, was elected as the President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, succeeding Herman De Croo. On 28 December 2008, following the 2007–2008 Belgian political crisis, was asked by King Albert II to form a new government after he was reluctant to take up the role of prime minister. He was sworn in as Belgian prime minister on 30 December 2008. On 13 October 2009 Bloomberg reported that the government of would seek to tax banks and nuclear power to tame the deficit. "We are in the early stages of a recovery and at this time it is important not
President of the European Council Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009 with a term stretching until 31 May 2012. His term was later extended with a second period ending on 30 November 2014. The current president, for the term 1 June 2017 until 30 November 2019, is the former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He was reelected on 9 March 2017. The first meeting of all EU (then EC) heads of state or government was held in 1961 as an informal summit, but only became formalised in 1974, when it was baptised "European Council" by the then French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.