Following weeks of speculation and competing bids from the likes of Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and former British prime minister Tony Blair, Van Rompuy was selected at a meeting of European leaders over dinner last Thursday, 19 November. The leaders also chose Catherine Ashton, who stood in for EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson when he returned to Westminster politics, as the new High Representative, a job roughly equivalent to foreign minister.

Van Rompuy was born in 1947 in Etterbeek into a staunchly Catholic and politically engaged family. He studied at the Sint Jan Berchmans College in Brussels and at the Catholic University of Leuven, before working his way up the party organisation of the former CVP party, now CD&V – the Flemish Christian Democrats. An intellectual known for a slightly monkish demeanour, which masks a sometimes acid tongue, Van Rompuy’s main claim to fame was his reining in of Belgium’s debt in the early 1990s. He had spent barely a year as chairman of the Chamber of Representatives when former prime minister Yves Leterme resigned, throwing the country into constitutional chaos. As a senior figure viewed as a safe pair of hands, at arm’s length from political bickering, Van Rompuy was the choice of King Albert himself to take over as prime minister: it is said the monarch took 90 minutes to convince him to take the job.

He echoed that reluctance following the outcome of last week’s meeting, stressing that he had not sought the post of president but would carry it out with “enthusiasm and conviction”. The job of EU president carries a term of two-and-a-half years, with the possibility of being renewed in office once for a maximum total of five years. The president chairs EU summits, drives forward the work of the Council of Ministers and represents the EU to the world.

What the papers said

The Belgian press gave full coverage on 20 November to the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy as “President of Europe,” but barely mentioned the new High Representative, the socialist baroness Catherine Ashton. Outside Belgium, most media shared the honours out fairly equally – not that there was much praise on offer.

China

The Chinese news agency Xinhua said Van Rompuy had “shown great skills in resolving conflicts and brought political stability to the linguistically divided country” since taking office a year ago.

United States

The New York Times, distracted by the competing news story that Oprah is to give up her chat show, claimed Van Rompuy “likes bowling duckpins and writing haiku, [and] has earned respect for calming ethnic tensions in Belgium in his 11 months as prime minister. Someone who met him recently described him as intelligent and humorous, but timid.” A duckpin, apparently, is shorter and squatter than a tenpin.

France

In Paris, Libération had little warmth for the new president, whose selection, together with that of High Representative Ashton, “shows that the 27 [EU leaders] have seriously lowered their ambitions”.

Spain

El Mundo called the new arrivals “two unknowns without experience”. Also in Spain, El Pais described the two as “lacklustre, low-profile figures”. Euronews called Van Rompuy “more pragmatic than charismatic” and claimed he “hides a certain cynicism behind his cool exterior”. CNN’s Jim Bittermann told how the new president is often caricaturised as a priest “and that’s not just because he’s a Catholic”.

Britain

The Daily Telegraph, which had attacked Van Rompuy as a federalist extremist while getting his name wrong (they called him Herbert), chose to open its article by describing the new president as “balding, short in stature, slight of build and self-effacing”. They also quoted Flemish writer and theorist Kristien Hemmerechts, who “compared his looks to the Extra-Terrestrial film character made famous by Steven Spielberg. ‘I can’t look at a picture of him without thinking: ET,’ she wrote recently.” The Daily Express, which had previously responded “You must be joking” to the idea of being “ruled by a Belgian,” claimed that Van Rompuy was “furious” at the paper for having described him as a clown. “Herman Van Rompuy has been enraged by our crusade against the undemocratic stitch-up,” the paper said.

Still in Britain, the waspish commentator Michael White in the Guardian condemned the whole selection process as a “third-rate shambles”, which would at least pull the teeth of those who claim Europe is a threat to the British way of life. “On this evidence, the EU couldn’t threaten the skin of a rice pudding. What it deserves is a belly-laugh and drinks all round at the bar,” he writes.

And from politicians...

Politicians were more gracious than the editorialists. Nicolas Sarkozy, who had taken part in the “stitch-up” to install Van Rompuy, said he was “one of the strongest personalities in European politics”. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called the appointments “a milestone for Europe and for its role in the world.” President Barack Obama, meanwhile, said the new posts would “strengthen the EU and enable it to be an even stronger partner to the United States”. Trying out Van Rompuy’s new title for size, Obama said, “I look forward to working closely with President Van Rompuy.”