President of the European Council also led to their rejection. On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy, at that time Prime Minister of Belgium, was appointed the first full-time President of the European Council. The formal decision on the appointment was made after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2009. The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said that he had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders at the summit in Brussels on the evening of 19 November 2009. Brown praised Van Rompuy as "a consensus builder" who had "brought a period of political stability to his country after months of
Herman Van Rompuy of state or government of the EU member states, as the first full-time President of that Council under the Treaty of Lisbon. He was appointed for the period from 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012, though he only took up his position officially on 1 January 2010. On 1 March 2012 he was re-elected for a second (and last) term, to last from 1 June 2012 until 30 November 2014. Born in Etterbeek, Brussels, to Dr., later Professor of Economics, Victor Lodewijk Maurits "Vic" van Rompuy (Begijnendijk, 27 February 1923 – Begijnendijk, 14 November 2004) and wife Germaine Geens