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
Luuk van Middelaar Luuk van Middelaar Luuk Johannes van Middelaar (born 9 May 1973 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch historian and political philosopher. From December 2009 to 2014 Van Middelaar was member of the cabinet of Herman Van Rompuy, the first President of the European Council. He is best known for his book "The Passage to Europe" (originally published in 2009; widely translated). Van Middelaar studied history and philosophy at the University of Groningen and the "Centre Raymond Aron" of the "École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales" in Paris. In 1999 his masters thesis ("doctoraalscriptie" in Dutch) "Politicide" was published and awarded