Who was appointed the first permanent President of the European Council in November 2009?
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
President of the European Council announced it was taking a "backrow seat" with regards to both the European Council president as well as the High Representative, thus fuelling hopes for a more comunitarian character in both the council and foreign policy. Formal negotiations on the salary and privileges of the permanent presidency began in April 2008 as part of the draft of the 2009 EU budget. The outcome was that the President should enjoy the same conditions as the President of the Commission, with a basic salary of 138% of the highest civil service grade: that would be €24,874.62 per month (not including family and