As the first President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy was always going to have a battle to carve out a distinct role for himself. He may not, however, have anticipated the furore over his efforts to find a new venue to host his inaugural summit. Mr Van Rompuy, the owlish Belgian who beat Tony Blair to the job, has spurned his Brussels headquarters in favour of a less formal spot -- a 108-year-old restored library -- for the meeting on February 11. The Bibliotheque Solvay is only a few hundred yards down the road but even such a small move has serious implications for the security of the 27 heads of state who will gather there. It has also raised eyebrows because the library's cosy wood-panelled surroundings hark back to the days of informal European summits unencumbered by officials, minute-takers and the media. This informal system of "fireside chats" was pioneered in the 1970s by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former President of France, with his opposite number in Germany, Helmut Schmidt, before the EU became too big to run as a gentlemen's club.
As the first President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy was always going to have a battle to carve out a distinct role for himself. He may not, however, have anticipated the furore over his efforts to find a new venue to host his inaugural summit.
Mr Van Rompuy, the owlish Belgian who beat Tony Blair to the job, has spurned his Brussels headquarters in favour of a less formal spot -- a 108-year-old restored library -- for the meeting on February 11. The Bibliotheque Solvay is only a few hundred yards down the road but even such a small move has serious implications for the security of the 27 heads of state who will gather there.
It has also raised eyebrows because the library's cosy wood-panelled surroundings hark back to the days of informal European summits unencumbered by officials, minute-takers and the media. This informal system of "fireside chats" was pioneered in the 1970s by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former President of France, with his opposite number in Germany, Helmut Schmidt, before the EU became too big to run as a gentlemen's club.
