Herman van Rompuy profile: Former PM who can calm a crisis

Herman van Rompuy is the first man to hold the post of president of the European Council, which is sometimes referred to as the president of Europe.

The position, created in the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, in effect makes him the EU’s nominal head of state and its principle representative on the world stage. It also means he presides over meetings of the European Council, which is made up of the heads of government of the member states, and the president of the European Commission, currently the Portuguese Jose Manuel Borroso.

At present Mr van Rompuy is leading negotiations on the next European Commission budget, which Prime Minister David Cameron has threatened to veto if member states are asked to support an increase.

Before becoming president of the European Council, Mr van Rompuy was prime minister of Belgium, which he was credited with keeping together in the face of a strong separatist movement in his native Flanders.

He was appointed in 2008 by King Albert II to bring an end to the Belgian crisis, during which politicians struggled to form a stable government in 194 days of heated negotiations because of tensions between the northern, Dutch-speaking Flemish and the French-speaking Walloons in the south.