The Van Rompuy Government was the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009.

Herman Van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. A politicia ...

was nominated as the first

President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as t ...

and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat

( Christian Democratic and Flemish, CD&V) was sworn in as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

after the

Leterme I Government The Leterme I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 20 March 2008 to 22 December 2008. It took office when the Flemish Christian democrat Yves Leterme ( CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Belgian general el ...

fell on 22 December 2008. On 18 December 2008,

Yves Leterme Yves Camille Désiré Leterme (; born 6 October 1960 in Wervik) is a Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He was the prime minister of Belgium, from November 2009 to December 2011. Leterme was the ...

offered his government's resignation to King Albert after a scandal erupted surrounding the investigation of the sale of the failing Fortis bank to

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

. Leterme,

Jo Vandeurzen Johan Maria Gerardus Vandeurzen (born 2 June 1958) is a Belgian politician, member of ''Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams'' (CD&V), a centrist Flemish Christian Democratic party. Vandeurzen holds a Master of Laws degree from the Catholic Univers ...

, and Didier Reynders were accused of violating the separation of powers by trying to influence the Court of Appeals and of exerting improper influence by the First Chairman of the Court of Cassation. Three days later the resignation was accepted by the king. To be official, the Van Rompuy I government needed a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Representatives. It received the vote of confidence on 2 January 2009. The government was succeeded on 24 November 2009 by the Leterme II Government.

Composition

The Van Rompuy I Government comprises 15 ministers and seven secretaries of state. Its initial composition is as follows:

Government reshuffle

On 17 July 2009, as a consequence of the regional elections, the government was reshuffled: * Karel De Gucht (VLD), who was appointed European Commissioner was succeeded by

(CD&V) as minister of Foreign Affairs *

Guido De Padt Guido De Padt (born 23 May 1954) is a Belgian politician and Senator for the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats. Since December 2011, he also is the mayor of Geraardsbergen, an office he also held from 2001 until 2006. He started his national ...

(VLD) was replaced as minister of the interior by

Annemie Turtelboom Annemie Turtelboom (born 22 November 1967) is a former Belgian minister, who is currently serving as the Belgian Member of The European Court of Auditors since 2018. Early career Annemie Turtelboom graduated from the Katholieke Universiteit L ...

(VLD); De Padt was appointed government commissioner for the internal audit of the federal government. * Guy Vanhengel (VLD) entered the government as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Budget * Melchior Wathelet jr. stayed on as state secretary for the budget but received the competences Asylum and immigration which were previously held by Minister Turtelboom. * Marie Arena (PS) was replaced as minister of Pensions and Large Cities by

Michel Daerden Michel Daerden (16 November 1949 – 5 August 2012) was a francophone Belgian politician, a member of the '' Parti Socialiste'', and a finance auditor. Daerden was born in Baudour, Belgium. With a reputation as a 'bon vivant', his undenied pe ...

Julie Fernandez-Fernandez Julie R. Fernandez-Fernandez (born 20 March 1972) is a Belgian politician for the Socialist Party who was a member of the Chamber of Representatives from 2010 to 2019. She served as Secretary of State for Disabled Persons (Social Affairs and Pu ...

(PS) was replaced as state secretary for Disabled Persons by Jean-Marc Delizée (PS). Delizée in turn was replaced as state secretary for the Fight against Poverty by Philippe Courard (PS). Courard also received the competences of social integration from Arena.

References

{{Belgian governments Belgian governments 2008 establishments in Belgium 2009 disestablishments in Belgium Cabinets established in 2008 Cabinets disestablished in 2009

Composition

Government reshuffle

See also

References