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Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President

Wednesday 29 December 2010 - by Andrew Hickley

Herman van Rompuy, European Council President
 The former Belgian Prime Minister oversaw multibillion euro bailouts and major governance reforms in his fresher year as the first President of the European Council. He comes 30th in the GFS Power 50.

The Greek debt crisis was a baptism of fire for Herman van Rompuy, coming just two months into his new job. But the Belgian proved instrumental in orchestrating talks that saw an unprecedented $158bn (€120bn) bailout package for the stricken EU economy.

Many would not envy van Rompuy in having to steer European policy through the complex rivalries and soap opera of the 27 member state Union, but his experience as Prime Minister of Belgium, with its own fractious politics, seems to have served him well for the job.

Despite coping with an undefined job description (he has no powerful voting rights, and is instead tasked to simply "drive forward" the Commission's work), van Rompuy's tenure has been marked by some notable successes and a strong partnership with Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The two teamed up to represent Europe at both G20 summits in 2010, using their collective stature to call for a globally agreed bank levy, alongside radical reforms of the International Monetary Fund. This latter call, which involved the EU relinquishing some power on the IMF's board, resulted in some of the biggest changes to the IMF in its 65-year history.

Van Rompuy, who is well known for his love and authorship of Japanese Haiku poems, twice managed to force through changes to Europe's Lisbon Treaty. The first of these involved heading a task force recommending harsher punishments for European nations who run budget deficits.


The second resulted in the establishment of a $746bn (€996bn) European Financial Stability Mechanism, replacing the European Financial Stability Facility set up to deal with Irish and Greek debt problems.

Criticised by UK MEP Nigel Farage as having the charisma of a "damp rag", van Rompuy has however enhanced his reputation no end this year by coordinating a series of sensible measures - exactly what the EU needs at a time of fears over sovereign debt and currency crises threaten to overshadow the work behind the scenes.

Learn more about the GFS Power 50, a countdown of the most influential people in worldwide financial regulation in 2010.


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