Who Is Who: First EU President Herman Van Rompuy

Herman Van Rompuy has been elected the first President of the EU under the Lisbon Treaty at the special summit of the leaders of the 27 EU member states Thursday night, November 19, 2009.

UK EU Commissioner Catherine Ashton has been selected as EU's first "Foreign Minister" or High Foreign Policy Commissioner.

Van Rompuy was born October 31, 1947 in Etterbeek. He is a Belgian Flemish politician and member of the CD&V (formerly called CVP) and the current Prime Minister of Belgium, succeeding Yves Leterme.

Van Rompuy was the Vice President of the CVP Youth from 1973 to 1975. From 1978 onward, he was a member of the National Bureau of the CVP.

In 1975-1980, he worked in the ministerial cabinets of Leo Tindemans and Gaston Geens and from 1988 to 1993 he was the President of the CVP.

He also was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from September 1993 to July 1999.

After his party's defeat in the 1999 Belgian general election, he became a member of the Chamber of Representatives. In 2004, he was designated Minister of State.

On July 12, 2007, Van Rompuy was elected as the President of the Chamber of Representatives.

His younger brother, Eric Van Rompuy, is also a politician for the CD&V and was a minister in the Flemish Government from 1995 to 1999 and his sister, Christine Van Rompuy, is member of the Workers Party of Belgium.

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