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
Tine Van Rompuy Transport Service at the University Hospital of Leuven. In 2009, Van Rompuy helped to design an election campaign poster showing her brother, Prime minister Herman Van Rompuy, dressed as a circus clown. This attracted some attention, and according to some media reports, they have not spoken since. However, Van Rompuy said on her personal weblog that she is "happy that [her] brother will be president of Europe", and that she would give him a "little box" with a message that "the 2 % who are the richest, pay a tax of 2% on their wealth". She is married to John