Thread: President of Europe is a Belgian

BBC News - Belgian PM Van Rompuy is named as new EU president

Herman Van Rompuy is a good choice. He is a concensus builder, and pulled our fledgling government back together.

While I am proud that the European president is a Belgian, I don't think it was that important. The person is more important than the nationality. I was happy though that it was not Blair. A European president should be looking after European interestsm, and not be a lapdog for the US like Blair was.

The funny thing was that the election itself was not really a big deal here in Belgium until now. Up until yesterday, noone was serious about his chances.

EU has a president, wow. What is coming next - federal EU taxes?

I have to say, I approve of the choice. A much better option than Blair in my opinion. I do my best to keep up with European news even though I live on the other side of the ocean. Congrats guys

Yet another reason for me to learn French and Dutch.

An excellent choice, really. Apart from the fact that a Briton as EU president would have been a contradiction in terms, especially that Labour Lite™ fella.

I must admit that I am quite surprised by the choice as there was a poll this week where less than 12% of the polled had ever heard his name and less than 5% would have cast a vote for him. Heck, I had heard of him maybe 3 times on the radio...

That being said, I agree that he was a better choice than Tony Blair... Jean-Claude Juncker would have been a good choice, but I feel he is going to be needed longer in Luxembourg.

I only want to know one thing Bruno. Will there be an ale brewed in Belgium to honor this momentous occasion?

It always was absurd to argue the case for a British President of Europe. Britain will never wholly embrace the same vision of Europe of most of it's partners.
Today's Europe is an incredible achievement. By politicians who have ignored the wishes of the people. It was ever thus!

Originally Posted by Fido

By politicians who have ignored the wishes of the people. It was ever thus!

It's slightly more complicated than that, I think. European law is so immensely complicated that it literally takes a degree in European law to understand the EU (or its predecessors). Europe as we know it was shaped by men with visions (and the understandable desire of its peoples to keep my people from occupying then every 20 years), whose ideas were turned into laws. I'm a political scientist, but I do not understand the EU, at least not to a degree which enables me to take informed decisions. And that's probably the biggest problem: you simply have to believe that politicians and lawyers will get it right. For a nation like England with its high degree of independence, that is likely a lot harder to digest than for, say, Germans, who are traditionally more obedient.

I'm just darn happy that not all countries in Europe are members of EU.
BTW he is the president of the European Union not Europe.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Labour Lite™ fella.

What I like about his election is that - although personally I'm not a fan of Herman - he is a very smart guy, a really really capable politician. It makes me glad that someone like that can become president of the EU.

There are countries where having an IQ above a 100 counts against you when you want to become president.