Herman Van Rompuy was known – to the extent that he was known at all – as the poet and family man who was persuaded to become Belgium's 48th prime minister, less than a year ago. This calm and erudite Christian Democrat was brought in to restore serenity to his country after months of political turmoil, “much against my own will”, he insisted at the time. Unsought promotion appears to be turning into a habit with him.
Born in Brussels into an academic family, he obtained a master's degree in philosophy before completing a master's in economics – and his love of literature persists, now accompanied by a passion for writing haikus. His 35-year political career started when he was a young political adviser, first to the prime minister, then to the finance minister. Much of the time he has been away from the limelight, though he was president of the Flemish Christian Democrat party.
He enjoyed considerable success during his spell as budget minister, in the 1990s. Working closely with Jean-Luc Dehaene, the then prime minister, he contrived to ease Belgium out of its deficit and into the euro, but sank back into relative obscurity until 2007, when his negotiating skills were brought into play as a backroom boy in the frequent and delicate business of putting together another Belgian government.
The quiet and thoughtful Van Rompuy is respected in both the Dutch-speaking north and French-speaking south of Belgium, essential in a land of internal squabbles. A man renowned for compromise, he deferred to his wife when she objected to his plan to buy himself a BMW motorbike for his 50th birthday, and settled instead for a Vespa.
His reward for getting his party colleague Yves Leterme into the prime minister's chair was the position of speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, where he professed to being very happy – until Leterme resigned and Van Rompuy was called up to succeed him. His greatest achievement during his year as Belgium's prime minister is that he calmed the inter-regional conflict, though the underlying disputes, notably the budget and the reform of voting in Brussels-Halle Vilvoorde, have not been resolved.
Leterme was sworn in for a second attempt as prime minister yesterday (25 November). Thanks to Van Rompuy, the country that he takes charge of is calmer than a year ago.
? A full profile of Herman Van Rompuy – ‘The calming influence' (19 March 2009) – can be read on EuropeanVoice.com
