President of the European Council the member state holding the semiannually rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union at any given time. However, since the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, article 15 of Treaty on European Union states that the European Council appoints a full-time president for a two-and-a-half-year term, with the possibility of renewal once. Appointments, as well as the removal of incumbents, require a double majority support in the European Council. On 19 November 2009, the European Council agreed that its first president under the Lisbon Treaty would be Herman Van Rompuy (European People's Party, Belgium). Van Rompuy took office when the
Prime Minister of Denmark a part of the constitutional monarchy outlined in 1848 and signed as the Danish Constitution on 5 June 1849. The new Constitution established a parliamentary system by creating a new bicameral parliament () and a Council Presidum, headed by a Council President. The Council Presidium is regarded as the predecessor of the modern Prime Minister's Office. The first Council President was Adam Wilhelm Moltke, who came to power on 22 March 1848. Molte and his next two successors also held the title of , which translates as "prime minister". From 1855 onwards the Prime Minister was known simply as the