The Van Rompuy Government was the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. Herman Van Rompuy 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 Institutions of the European Union, institution comprises the college of heads of state or governme ...

and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy (

Christian Democratic and Flemish Christian Democratic and Flemish (, ; CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism ( ACV) and trade associations ( UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party w ...

, CD&V) was sworn in as

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

after the Leterme I Government fell on 22 December 2008. On 18 December 2008, Yves Leterme 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 (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

. Leterme, Jo Vandeurzen, and

Didier Reynders Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Reformist Movement, Mouvement Réformateur (MR) that served as List of European Commissioners for Justice and Equality, European Commissioner for Justice until 30 ...

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 A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

. Three days later the resignation was accepted by the king. To be official, the Van Rompuy I government needed a vote of

confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

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 Yves Leterme (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 served in the Federal Government of Belgium as a member of the Open VLD party, initially as minister for Asylum and Migration, and later Home Affairs and Justice. She h ...

(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 * Julie Fernandez-Fernandez (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