Herman Van Rompuy

Habemos Van Rompuy and a Baroness

Tenerife News Online (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009

The European Council is to be graced by Belgian PM Herman van Rompuy as its new president.

2009 First Year of Global Governance

OpinionBug.com (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009

Herman Van Rompuy, first full-time President of the European Council, says “2009 is the first year of global governance:” We are living through exceptionally difficult times: the financial crisis and its dramatic impact on employment and budgets, the climate crisis which threatens our very survival. A period of anxiety, uncertainty and lack of confidence. Yet these [...]

Javier Solana: EU External Action Service will...

Britannia Radio (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009

Javier Solana: EU External Action Service will have military as well as civilian personnelIn an interview with Le Monde, outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Javier Solana, defends the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton. Asked whether the new EU External Action Service, which he has previously described as "the world's biggest diplomatic service", will be

'Top job' uncertainty reigns as Lisbon enters into force

Euractive (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009

As Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy and Britain's Catherine Ashton assume their new roles of Council president and EU foreign affairs chief following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December, debate is raging among Brussels commentators over whose role will prove the more prominent. EurActiv asked a number of experts to outline their views.

Incoming EU president pays quick visit to Finland

People Daily (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009

Herman Van Rompuy, who was just appointed the first permanent President of the European Council, paid a quick visit to Helsinki, Finland on Wednesday at the invitation of Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. During their meeting, Van Rompuy and Vanhanen discussed the implementation of the EU's Treaty of Lisbon, as well as the economic and financial situation. They also talked about EU enlargement...

• Incoming EU president Van Rompuy visits Finland - The Earth Times Online Newspaper

Europe's new leaders

Japan Times (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009

"Who?" was the general reaction to the selection of the European Union's first semi-permanent president of the European Council and the high representative for foreign affairs, who took office Tuesday. Although Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, formerly Belgium's prime minister, and Mrs. Catherine Ashton of Britain, holders of the respective posts, are relative unknowns on the international stage, they...

EU's van Rompuy discusses 'daunting' agenda in Latvia

The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009

Riga - Newly-appointed permanent president of the European Council Herman van Rompuy continued a whistlestop tour of EU member states Wednesday afternoon with a visit to Latvia after a trip to Finland in the morning. Van Rompuy said he was visiting m...

Europe’s New Leadership in Perspective

Outside the Beltway (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009

My latest for Foreign Policy, “The Eurocrats Europe Needs,” is up. It attempts to bring some perspective to the negative reactions — my own included! — that accompanied the selection of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as president and high representative for foreign policy, respectively, of the EU. Many had hoped for a kind of [...]

EXTRA: EU marks entry into force of Lisbon Treaty

The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

Lisbon - The European Union's Lisbon Treaty is a powerful instrument to face the challenges of our time, new EU permanent council President Herman Van Rompuy said Tuesday as top EU officials marked the pact's entry into force. A ceremony was staged...

The Eurocrats Europe Needs

Foreign Policy (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

Catherine Ashton and Herman Van Rompuy should suit the European Union -- and that's all that matters.

EU to play 'key role' at climate summit: EU Pres

France24 (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

The European Union is committed to playing a key role at the UN's global warming summit later this month in Copenhagen, the bloc's new president Herman Van Rompuy said Tuesday. "On climate change, the (European) Union is determined to continue playing a key role, a constructive role which could lead to an ambitious global agreement," Van Rompuy said in French during a joint press conference...

Lisbon treaty on European Union reform enters into force

JURIST (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

[JURIST] The European Union (EU) reform treaty, known as the Treaty of Lisbon went into effect Tuesday after more than two years of negotiations. The Treaty, which was ratified by all 27 member-states of the EU, was crafted to make the EU more democratic, transparent, and efficient, to more effectively promote and protect the values of the Union through promulgation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights,...

Anyone who thinks there is something going on is a Conspiracy Theorist!

Right Coast (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

NEW WORLD ORDER: FIRST PRESIDENT OF EUROPE ELECTED While the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico pursue their goal of unification and the creation of a North American Union, Europe's nations have begun their unification process with the election of the first President of Europe. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday -- and almost totally unnoticed by Americans -- European Union leaders...

New EC President's Whirlwind Tour as Lisbon Treaty Takes Effect

Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

Herman Van Rompuy, the EC's first President, has visited Ljubljana on Tuesday, beginning a European tour aimed at establishing closer relations with the leaders of the member states. "My key words will be continuity and coherence," Van Rompuy told journalists after officially taking office as the new EC president on Tuesday. He said that he would not make any political statements until the...

Van Rompuy takes office as EU President as Lisbon Treaty comes into force

The Empire Chronicles (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009

The EU’s first President, Herman van Rompuy, officially took office today as the bloc’s reforming Lisbon Treaty entered into force, the Daily Telegraph reports. Baroness Catherine Ashton at the same time became the European Union’s foreign policy chief – a post dubbed “EU foreign minister”. The 27 EU heads of state and government chose van Rompuy, who was the serving...