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Home , Affligem Abbey, Herman Van Rompuy

MR IN-BETWEEN: Herman Van Rompuy at headquarters in . REUTERS/ YVESREUTERS/ HERMAN

SPECIAL REPORT | DECEMBER 2011 Europe’s man in the middle CRITICS SAY HERMAN VAN ROMPUY IS A GREY INTELLECTUAL, ADMIRERS THAT HE’S VITAL TO SAVING THE . AS THE PRESIDENT OF EUROPE FACES THE BIGGEST WEEK OF HIS CAREER, HE OPENS UP ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS, HAIKU AND THE NEED TO BE PATIENT

BY LUKE BAKER fate in their hands: the 27 countries of the Ireland and Portugal, cast a shadow over BRUSSELS, DEC 7 and in particular the 17 that far larger economies and now threatens the share the single currency. very survival of the currency union. ERMAN ACHILLE Van Rompuy To his critics, Van Rompuy is a grey What emerges from interviews with Van was no household name when he intellectual, lacking in the kind of take- Rompuy and more than a dozen other figures Hwas appointed the first president charge dynamism the moment demands, a involved in resolving Europe’s problems is of Europe two years ago. A former budget symbol of all that is wrong with Europe. To a portrait of a man determinedly trying to minister and central bank employee, he his admirers, he is reason to hope: a smart keep on top of a crisis whose severity and had served, reluctantly, as Belgian prime and thoughtful leader who grasps the speed, he admits, took him and his fellow minister for barely a year. A provocateur once gravity of the crisis and is perfectly placed leaders by surprise. denounced him as having the “charisma of to smooth egos and negotiate a solution. Caught between personalities as forceful a damp rag.” Van Rompuy, 64, said he sees his role as German Chancellor and Two years on, Van Rompuy is still a as “neither a spectator, nor a dictator, ’s frenetic president, , conundrum to many. But as the continent but a facilitator”. To some ears, that may Van Rompuy has tallied a succession of gropes this week for a solution to its worst sound like a parody of eurospeak. But in diplomatic breakthroughs -- many of which economic crisis since World War Two, the an institution whose very existence was have been followed by dizzying setbacks. unassuming Belgian has been thrust into built on compromise, his role is crucial. Van It has been a nerve-wracking two years -- one of the most demanding diplomatic Rompuy faces what is probably his most “so, so difficult,” he said at one point during missions of recent decades. While many challenging test this Thursday and Friday, an interview. Those difficult moments expected his office to be largely ceremonial, Dec. 8-9, when EU leaders gather for a included what he says was the worst of he has been charged with brokering a grand summit on the sovereign debt crisis that in all, in May 2010, when a do-or-die deal bargain among those who hold the bloc’s the past two years has consumed Greece, to prop up Greece nearly collapsed amid misunderstanding and mistrust between the French and German leaders. Such moments underline how, to the extent Europe’s titular leader has power, it lies in his ability to cajole and convince. “You have to be very patient, because you have to respect everybody,” Van Rompuy said in the interview, in which he offered one of the most extensive and intimate accounts of his tenure in office to date. “Even if he knows he is the biggest player or the smallest player -- they are all part of the game.” Van Rompuy is known for his fondness for writing Haiku poetry. As the inaugural president of the European Council, which brings together the EU’s leaders and is meant to hammer out agreements and set the strategic direction of the union, his main job is to find harmony. He may not be the most powerful person in the room -- that’s Merkel -- nor nearly as intimidating as the financial markets. But Van Rompuy is the vital go- between, pushing and France to agree on a way forward and then working to REUTERS/YVES HERMAN corral consensus from the other nations. PHILOSOPHER-POET: Van Rompuy in his offices, where the walls are covered with works by contemporary Karel Pinxten, a former Belgian defence Belgian artists, including a piece with the words in Flemish: ‘What is complete is never done.’ minister and member of Van Rompuy’s Europe’s. He attended an elite high school domestic political party, has seen how he “We discovered operates firsthand. where he had an intense grounding in “He will know what his opponent really the word contagion.” , Greek, and literature. An wants and what that person needs to get education, he said, that shapes his thinking from the negotiating table,” Pinxten said. on critical issues to this day -- including “We don’t have any illusions that there’ll “He is somebody who immediately knows the debt crisis. ever be any one phone number you can call to where he needs to get to but he will never “For me it’s absolutely crucial,” he told resolve any issue facing the European Union. take the shortest route.” Reuters in his offices in the red marble Justus But the Lisbon Treaty has enabled us to have Lipsius building, the headquarters of the a single permanent interlocutor.” THE ROLE OF EUROPEAN Council president European Council, named for a 16th-century For many years, until his workload became Belgian humanist. “If you ask me what is was created by the Lisbon Treaty, Europe’s too heavy, Van Rompuy spent a day or two helpful in my political life, it is making the semi-constitution, which came into force at every year on retreat at Abbey, difference, or the distinction, between what the end of 2009 following more than eight an 11th-century Benedictine monastery is essential and what is superfluous. It’s as years of complex and sometimes desperate northwest of Brussels. There he would read, simple as that.” negotiations. The treaty was designed write and pray with the monks, 17 of whom He pays careful attention to what’s said to streamline decision-making, create a still reside inside its imposing red-brick walls. and what’s left unsaid during negotiations, stronger and more united Europe, and allow Brother George, the monk in charge he said. “And without my Greek and Latin the world’s biggest trading bloc to punch its of visitors and the nearby gift shop, weight on the international stage. describes Van Rompuy as someone who fit humanities, I would never have managed Van Rompuy’s appointment came after naturally into the pastoral surroundings, this. That’s how I live this.” weeks of speculation that the job could go enjoying the calm of the monastery’s Fellow students remember him showing to former British Prime Minister . library and eating in silence in the austere, a remarkable degree of reflection from an Some viewed the choice as a calculated vaulted-ceiling refectory. early age, as well as an uncanny ability to decision by heads of state reluctant to be “He’s almost a monk,” said Brother parse arguments. Paul De Grauwe, a leading outshone. Others felt it made sense to George with a shrug. “It’s special to have Belgian economist who was at high school appoint a decision-maker from the heart him, but he is himself. He’s a very calm, and university with Van Rompuy, describes of Europe, someone accustomed to quietly down-to-earth man.” him as an intellectual, but one firmly rooted forging consensus. in the real world. “Europe has decided to put in place a VAN ROMPUY grew up in , “Given the context in which he has to president of the European Union who can a predominantly Flemish-speaking perform now, it was a very good background to some extent be the honest broker among neighbourhood in largely French-speaking for him,” said De Grauwe, a at the the heads of state,” William Kennard, the Brussels. That upbringing perhaps made it Catholic University of and a former U.S. ambassador to the European Union told easier for him to bridge ’s linguistic visiting scholar at the International Monetary reporters recently. and cultural divides and, more recently, Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve. “He’s a

HERMAN VAN ROMPUY 2 very clever politician, the kind who waits capacity -- 750 billion . for the others to make a mistake and then The experience -- three days of intense makes his move.” negotiation including a race to finalise a That’s exactly what happened in late deal before financial markets reopened -- 2008 when the Belgian government included a debilitating Friday night that Van collapsed. Seemingly unbridgeable Rompuy describes as perhaps the toughest differences between the French- and of the job so far. Dutch-speaking communities threatened “We started the meeting without a real to split the country. The Belgian king asked agreement between France and Germany Van Rompuy to try to form a government, and we ended the meeting with the feeling but the politician resisted, telling rivals that this was not the appropriate answer,” that he didn’t want the job. The more he he said, adding that there was initially no told them no, the more each party insisted, financial means to help Greece. “That was until eventually all of them were asking a very, very difficult moment.” him to be prime minister. Within a week -- lightning speed in Belgian politics -- he had IT HAS NOT STOPPED. In 16 summits over a consensus and was installed in office. the last two years -- double the number “He knows that the spotlight under which scheduled in normal times -- the Council politicians stand is artificial light,” said led by Van Rompuy has been the focal

Pinxten, the Belgian politician. “I’ve seen FAMILY/HANDOUT ROMPUY’S VAN HERMAN OF REUTERS/COURTESY point of decision-making, or lack thereof. a party congress where people stood up in Greece has received two bailout packages CLASSICALLY TRAINED: Van Rompuy attended an fury against him. He dealt with it stoically. elite high school where he had an intense grounding worth a total of 240 billion euros, and the He’s a man who doesn’t allow himself to in Latin, , philosophy and literature. crisis has enveloped Ireland, which took a be destabilised quickly. He is a man with a Here, he is pictured at Sint-Jan Berchmans College 90 billion euro bailout in November 2010, sufficiently long-term view to look through in Brussels in 1959. and Portugal, whose 78 billion euro, three- the madness of the day.” “I saw the French president coming in to this year programme followed six months later. It very office, and then the German chancellor, has also severely rattled , Italy, France, VAN ROMPUY’S INTRODUCTION to his job and they had no solution ... the situation Belgium and other member states. as Europe’s president was tough. Within days was completely blocked,” Van Rompuy said, Every step has required weeks of intense of starting on Jan. 1, 2010, he was briefed on recalling the talks which included then Greek discussion, and ultimately agreement among secret talks that had been going on between prime minister, George Papandreou. all 17 euro zone leaders and the International civil servants to try to find a solution to Anticipating a stalemate, he had prepared Monetary Fund. There’s the constant threat Greece’s debt problems. At that point, while a compromise text and presented it to the that a wrong decision could cause the well aware of Athens’ troubles, he and his three of them. 13-year-old single currency to unravel. team of advisers had little idea of how they “I put it on the table, and Sarkozy told me To outsiders, the endless meetings and would spread over the following 18 months. right away, ‘I agree.’ For Germany, with some summits and crisis talks have at times “I entered into an undiscovered country,” he slight modifications, it went well, and I had become a worrying joke, proof that the said. “We underestimated at that time what my first agreement. But then I had to go to half century-old European project is a was going to happen further on. We had to the rest of the European Council, explaining badly designed mess. deal with the Greek problem, the necessary that I had an agreement with two or three “When you look at the vast problems contacts with the Greek government and players and asking the rest to agree to it.” Europe is facing, you’re crying out for so on, but it became clear in the weeks and They did, giving Van Rompuy his first someone with drive and dynamism to grab months afterwards ... that it was what we breakthrough. The relief lasted just days. the reins. Van Rompuy is not that man, it’s now call a systemic crisis, and we discovered Beginning a pattern that has marked the deeply underwhelming,” said one British the word contagion.” crisis ever since, the last-minute deal -- little banker who follows efforts to resolve the debt Van Rompuy called an emergency summit more than a commitment by the euro zone crisis closely. of EU leaders. The mid-February meeting countries to do whatever was necessary to But one of the keys to his role, Van Rompuy was a first test of his negotiating and help Greece, should it ask -- was picked apart insists, “is to respect everybody, and to consensus-building skills. The chief goal by financial markets. respect everybody is to listen, and that takes was to get Germany and France, the two Pressure grew for something more time. You need some patience to listen very largest economies in the euro zone and the substantial. The problem was that the carefully... I don’t know whether I wait for the bloc’s political heavyweights, to agree on a Greek government had not formally asked others to make mistakes, but you have to be way to help Greece. Van Rompuy would then for assistance; until it did, Merkel insisted, patient, and I am so patient that the other have to work on getting the other 25 leaders nothing could be done. ones become impatient. behind the deal. Athens finally requested aid at the end “When we take a decision as a group, they Just before the summit, he met Sarkozy of April, 2010, and the euro zone leaders have to go back to defend all this, because and Merkel in his offices, where the walls scrambled to get a rescue deal together. it’s always a compromise. That’s why in some are hung with works by contemporary On May 7, after all-night talks, they agreed way it lasts longer than it needs to.” Belgian artists, including one piece depicting to create the European Financial Stability It goes beyond that. In the end -- and a phrase in Flemish that reads: ‘What is Facility; two days later the euro zone’s this has become more and more apparent complete is never done.’ finance ministers put a figure on the fund’s the longer the crisis has dragged on -- it is

HERMAN VAN ROMPUY 3 financial markets that need to be convinced. VAN ROMPUY LOVES Haiku, the three-line later fined by the president of the European “We can have political compromises, Japanese poetic form that aims to distill a Parliament for his remarks. But the speech but if they are not digested or accepted by moment in crystalline images. In 2010, he captured the frustration among some had the markets, then we have a problem,” Van published a collection of his own Haiku in with Van Rompuy’s appointment. When the Rompuy said. Market forces are now helping three languages. He continues to produce at assault began, Van Rompuy looked stunned; some leaders confront hard facts: “I have said least one poem a month, often posted on his later he quietly shrugged it off. in a totally different context that ideology or Facebook page or Twitter account. Nearly two years on, Farage is still unsettled ideas are not governing the world, facts are. His most recent, posted in November, by Van Rompuy’s intense pro-Europeanism. At a certain moment the facts are so powerful captures the unrest of autumn: But he credits him in other ways. “Oh God, that you have to give up all your previous “A boy kicks in he’s certainly bright and he’s certainly clever,” positions, ideological viewpoints, brilliant A lot of dead leaves. he told Reuters. “You see him in meetings ideas, because you have to face the facts. We What disturbed the peace.” and he takes people on face-to-face. But he’s have to again be patient and the facts will do Such erudite passions are one reason many a backroom boy. He’s not a man of charisma the work.” greeted his appointment with derision. or presence, and in my mind he will gladly It helps that Van Rompuy has a way of “We were told that when we had a abolish democracy for this euro-dream.” using those facts. president, we’d see a giant global political For his part, the Belgian describes his At a euro zone summit two months ago, figure,” Britain’s , a right mind as “compartmentalised”. The moment leaders worried about whether Italy could wing, eurosceptic member of the European he leaves his office, he is no longer at work. reform fast enough to fix its finances. Prime Parliament declared in a speech to the When he is walking his dog, he is just walking Minister told the meeting chamber in February 2010, as Van Rompuy his dog. At the weekend, when he is with his it had always been his dream to make the sat just across the aisle from him. children and grandchildren, he does not let structural adjustments everyone wanted. “The man would be the political leader for the crisis crowd his thoughts. For a decade all he had longed for was to 500 million people,” Farage gesticulated That ability, he said, helps him stay calm overhaul the economy, he said, but it had dismissively towards the European Council no matter how chaotic the situation. It’s not been possible because the communists president. “Well, I’m afraid that all we an approach that has quietly earned him and social democrats had blocked his efforts. got was you. I don’t want to be rude, but support, from heads of state down. While he After the Italian stopped speaking and the you know, really, you have the charisma works most closely with Berlin and Paris, he room fell quiet, Van Rompuy turned to him in of a damp rag and the appearance of a also visits as many leaders as possible ahead front of the others and said: “Silvio, it’s time low-grade bank clerk.” of each summit, and did so before he was to make your dreams come true.” Most MEPs booed him and the Briton was appointed European Council president. This methodical approach has won Van Rompuy praise from diplomats from countries as far removed as Spain and Sweden, and his initial two-and-a-half year term is expected to be extended next June, as Europe’s leaders seek continuity. When he can, Van Rompuy likes to think about what sort of Europe will emerge from the trials of the past two years. “If we survive this, and we will survive this, it will be considered a very important period because we had to correct what went wrong from the very start of the euro zone,” he said, referring to the years since the single currency was introduced as something of a lost decade. “If we survive this, then we will have a totally different euro zone, and not a totally different European Union, but at least a different European Union. We have to rebuild all this. And that, that has made the job so difficult. So difficult.” REUTERS/YVES HERMAN RESPECT EVERYBODY: “To respect everybody is to listen, and to listen is to take time…” Van Rompuy is pictured here with, from left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Greek Prime Minister George (Edited by Simon Robinson and Papandreou and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Brussels, February 2011 Sara Ledwith)

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