EU Has Chosen An Ex-Banker As It's First President

The EU's parliament members have chosen Belgian Prime Minister, Herman Van Rompuy, as our first President of the European Council. The new figure-head of the European super-state is the current PM in his home country, but before his successful political career, the Flemish politician had a background in banking. In the 70's he worked for the Belgian Central Bank before going on to become a seemly successful Minister for Budget throughout much of the 90's, so it does appear that his talents may be in economics, which makes this a strange appointment, considering his new post primarily revolves around entertaining various heads of state from around the World, and representing the public of Europe. Whilst he has a talent for numbers, is he really the correct person for this particular job?

November.20.2009 - George Valentine Corr, Blatant News Editor
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WHO IS HERMAN VAN ROMPUY?
Herman van Rompuy is a Flemish Belgian politician who spent a great deal of his life involved in economics and banking. After training as an economist, he then went on to work for his countries Central Bank, before he began his political career in the mid-seventies. He has held various political posts, including being a member of both the Belgian Senate and Chamber of Representatives, and at various times he has been the Secretary of State for Finance and for Small and Medium Enterprises, Minister of State and Minister for Budget. From 1993 to 1999 he was the Deputy Prime Minister, and since December 2008 he has been the Prime Minister of Belgium. But he apparently only became the PM of his country reluctantly, after the 2007–2008 Belgian political crisis forced King Albert II of Belgium to ask Van Rompuy to form a government.

ONE OF THE BOYS?
Van Rompuy comes from a somewhat successful political family. His brother was also elected to the Belgian parliament where he served as a Minister, and his younger sister is a prominent member of the Workers Party of Belgium. As with all important jobs which our politicians divide amongst themselves, this seems to be a case of a safe pair of hands from their perspective. Someone who they will all trust, and his views are quite widely known too, which will have helped our MEP's to come to the decision of appointing him as our President. I just wonder if he is the correct type of person though? His talents seem to be in economics, and as a person, he sounds quite cold when speaking. Is this really the kind of chap we would want to be negotiating with the United States, China or Russia on our behalf?

WHO DOES THE APPOINTMENT SUIT MOST?
A more personable character would be more in tune with the President's post, and then there's his staunch public opposition to Turkey becoming a member state of the EU. This will not add to the Turkish confidence of achieving this by any means, and may actually further alienate our closest Muslim neighbour in the process. I would imagine that this choice as President will only really suit those in the background who hold onto power within the EU, and possibly even the US administration too, especially when you think about the kind of chap he is and the background which he comes from. He is certainly not a people's President, because he lacks a particular type of personality, and in the long-run, the people will not be fooled on that point. Just because he comes from a small and cute country, doesn't make him nice and fluffy.

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