Herman Van Rompuy Rompuy was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from September 1993 to July 1999 in the two governments led by Jean-Luc Dehaene. As budget minister, together with finance minister Philippe Maystadt, he helped drive down Belgium's debt from a peak of 135% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1993. It fell to below 100% of GDP in 2003. He was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in the 1995 general election, but as he remained a minister, he was barred from taking the seat while holding that office. After his party's defeat in the 1999 Belgian general election,
Herman Van Rompuy period of political stability to his country after months of uncertainty". This opinion is shared by others; he has been described as the painstaking builder of impossible compromises ("l'horloger des compromis impossibles") A statement made by Van Rompuy at a news conference after his selection illustrates his approach: Not all parties and fractions had positive words when Van Rompuy took office. Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party attacked the freshly appointed president by saying : "you have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low grade bank clerk". He was fined 3000 Euros (ten days