About: Herman Van Rompuy

Van Rompuy: Juncker’s single EU president idea ‘cannot deliver’

A week after the landmark State of the Union speech by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the first president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy told EURACTIV.com that merging the two functions at the EU helm could run into legal and political obstacles.

After Juncker, EPP mulls vision of a multi-speed ‘Europe that delivers’

The European People’s Party vowed on Tuesday (7 March) to turn the tide and mobilise people and means to avoid further divisions in the 27-country bloc after Brexit.

EU grandees seek plan to revive pride, wake up Europe after Brexit vote

Faced with the shocks that have disrupted the European construct, a number of opinion-makers, former Commissioners, ministers, and parliamentarians have slammed the European 'intellectual disease' which has prevented leaders using common sense to reignite the sense of pride in the EU project - starting with the young generation.

Van Rompuy: Brexit will take ‘years and years’

No need to panic, the UK was on its way out of the EU years ago. This was the view shared by Herman Van Rompuy and the EU foreign affairs ministers who met in Paris on Thursday (1 September). EURACTIV France reports.

European NGO chief: To fight fear and populism, start with social programmes

Ambitious social programmes, which benefit everybody, undermine populism and combat fears, said Conny Reuter, the Secretary General of SOLIDAR in an interview with EURACTIV.com.

Kaczynski blames Tusk for Smolensk crash

Responsibility for the 2010 plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński along with 95 other people lay with the then government of Donald Tusk, the late president's twin brother and leader of the current ruling party said yesterday (10 April) at an event to commemorate the disaster.

Van Rompuy: ‘EU leaders only take bold decisions when they have a knife against their throats’

EXCLUSIVE / In a candid interview with EURACTIV, the former President of the European Council said the EU takes the boldest decisions only in crisis situations, "when we have our backs against the wall and are staring at the abyss with a knife against our throats".

Korčok: The last 6 years have been the most dramatic in the EU’s history

The years between 2009 and today will perhaps be seen as the most dynamic period of the EU’s history, Ivan Kor?ok, Slovakia's Ambassador to the EU, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Poland’s Tusk takes EU helm

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy passed the baton to Poland’s former prime minister Donald Tusk on Monday (1 December), during a handover ceremony in a packed Justus Lipsius building, seat of the ministerial meetings.

Van Rompuy’s last message: France must lead Europe again

In what is considered to be his outgoing speech, which he delivered at Sciences Po in Paris on Tuesday (25 November), European Council President Herman Van Rompuy urged France to regain confidence and drive Europe into the next era.

EU leaders adopt ‘flexible’ energy and climate targets for 2030

EU leaders Thursday night (23 October) committed by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%, and increase energy efficiency and renewables by at least 27%.

Wrap-up: EU summit on climate and energy, Ebola

After a marathon two-day summit on 23-24 October, EU leaders agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%, and increase energy efficiency and renewables by at least 27%. They also committed to do more to boost growth and jobs and asked the Commission to draft a proposal by December. Meanwhile, a furious David Cameron vowed the United Kingdom would not pay the €2.1 billion bill it was handed by EU on Thursday.

Special Olympics torch stops in Brussels EU’s district

SPECIAL REPORT: The Olympic flame arrived for the first time in Belgium as part of the Special Olympics European summer games on Tuesday (9 September), turning attention to an event few people in the EU sphere had heard of until now.

EU delays new Russia sanctions

European Union envoys failed yesterday (10 September) to reach a decision on whether to implement new sanctions against Russia over military involvement in the war in Ukraine and will meet for talks today, EU diplomats said.

Russia warns EU against Ukraine’s hardliners

The Russian ambassador to the EU warned Tuesday (9 September) that an Ukrainian admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would create the biggest security risk in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and warned against hardliners in Kyiv who may seek to derail a fragile peace process in eastern Ukraine.

Ebola spreads ‘exponentially’, economies threatened

Liberia, the country worst hit by West Africa's Ebola epidemic, should see thousands of new cases in coming weeks as the virus spreads exponentially, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday (8 September).

Poroshenko: The EU’s agenda now revolves around Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko took centre stage at today’s (30 August) EU summit and said that the Union’s heads of state and government had given his country broad support, since it had faced “open aggression” from Russia, adding that the EU's agenda from now on would largely revolve around Ukraine.

Diplomats: Tusk to also become Euro Summit President

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is widely expected to be chosen by EU leaders at their summit tomorrow (30 August) to succeed Herman Van Rompuy as Council President, will also become Euro Summit President, diplomats said.

Wrap-up: Leaders choose Tusk, Mogherini at Summit

EU leaders gathered at the European Council in Brussels, on Saturday (30 August), to break the deadlock on EU top jobs and to respond to the escalating conflict in Eastern Ukraine. An overview of events, as they happened, is below.

Russia advances in Ukraine, EU summit readies new sanctions

Prompted by the news that Russian forces have entered Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU will discuss further sanctions against Russia at the extraordinary summit Saturday (30 August). The perceived ''invasion'' boosted the chances that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the strongest supporter of pro-EU forces in Ukraine, would succeed Herman Van Rompuy as Council President.