Herman Van Rompuy Herman Van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (, ; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who formerly served as Prime Minister of Belgium and then as the first President of the European Council. A politician from Belgium's Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Van Rompuy served as the 49th prime minister of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until Yves Leterme (who was also his predecessor) succeeded him on 25 November 2009. On 19 November 2009 Van Rompuy was selected by the members of the European Council, which is the institution of the European Union (EU) comprising the heads
President of the European Union of the European Union, "President" of the European Council and "Prime Commissioner" would give a clearer indication of their respective roles. During the height of the Commission President's powers in the late-1980s and 1990s, the Commission President was sometimes referred to as the Europe's Prime Minister and the role of the President is similar to that of a national Prime Minister chairing a cabinet. The formulation of titles is not without precedent in Europe; for comparison, the title for the Prime Minister of Spain in Spanish is the "Presidente del Gobierno" ("President of the Government"), not Prime Minister. The Presidents