Chaque mois, nous vous invitons à découvrir notre invité surprise. Il s’agit d’une personnalité bien connue qui nous donne son point de vue sur l’actualité: une bouffée d’air frais pour élargir nos horizons, nous inspirer et nous rendre attentifs au monde d’aujourd’hui. Pour notre édition de mars, nous avons le plaisir d’accueillir Herman Van Rompuy, le premier président du Conseil européen, qui nous offre une perspective sur les défis actuels de l’Europe.

As president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy helped steer the European Union through a period of great challenges: the sovereign debt crisis; threats to the survival of the single currency; international crises; and major debates on the way forward for European integration.

He chaired 28 European Council meetings, 5 informal meetings, and 11 Euro summits, striking a balance between his role as mediator and the need to provide impetus for the necessary reforms. He played an important role in the launch of financial assistance programmes (eight countries) and mechanisms (European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism in 2010, European Stability Mechanism in 2012), of the banking union (Single Supervisory Mechanism and Single Resolution Mechanism, both active since 2014), of the economic governance framework (European Semester, Six-pack, Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, Two-pack), and of the Union's 10-year economic strategy (Europe 2020).

He is the author of nine books, and in one of them, Europe in the storm: promise and prejudice (2014), he recounts his EU experience. He is also the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Charlemagne Prize (2014). He is the author of a large number of haiku and, thanks to his kindness, readers of EESC Info will have the opportunity to get to know some of them. (ehp)