Herman Van Rompuy

Belgian politician and first President of the European Council after the signing of the Lisbon Treaty which established the post as a permanent position; he was named to the post on November 20, 2009 and took office on December 1st.

After graduating from a Catholic University with economics studies, Van Rompuy worked at Belgium's Central Bank from 1972-1975. In 1973 he became politically active in the Christian Democratic Party. Fifteen years later he became its President, a post he held until 1993. From 1993 to 1999 he served as the country's Budget Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. As a member of Parliament he led its lower house from July 2007 to December 2008 when he was appointed Prime Minister.

The author of six books on economics and politics, he is credited with lowering the country's debt while he was Budget Minister and with easing tensions between the Flemish and the French factions in the country during his stint as Prime Minister.

Married with several children, the devout Catholic writes Haiku in Flemish in his spare time.