Eric Karel Paul Van Rompuy (born 23 November 1949 in

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

) is a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

Biography

He is the son of the later Prof. em. dr. Vic Van Rompuy and brother of

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 ...

and Christine Van Rompuy.Profile: Herman van Rompuy
BBC NEWS / EUROPE Friday, 20 November 2009 After obtaining his licentiate degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

, he obtained a

baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

degree in philosophy (1971). In 1975, he obtained a PhD in

at the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

. From 1976 till 1981, he worked at the

Kredietbank KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

. In the meantime, he was elected in 1977 as national president of the Christian People's Party (CVP) youth wing (now CD&V). He remained president until 1983. In 1981, he had already become Member of Parliament of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. In 1981, he became a member of the local city council of

Zaventem Zaventem () is a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around the Brussels-Capital Region ...

(1 January 1983 - 31 December 1988). In 1988, the CVP lost the elections. His national career started when he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in 1985. He would remain in that function until 1995. From 1991 until 1995, he was MP in the

parliament. In 1995, he became the first Flemish minister of Economy, Agriculture and Media. In 1999, he resigned after the huge electoral loss of his party. Since 1999, he has been MP in the Flemish Parliament. He is married to Viviane Geuffens.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Rompuy, Eric 1949 births Living people People from Uccle Flemish politicians Members of the Flemish Parliament Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians KU Leuven alumni Belgian Roman Catholics 21st-century Belgian politicians