Herman Van Rompuy, the first and current president of the European Council, and former prime minister of Belgium, will present a public talk titled, "Europe: Continent in Crisis?" at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, at the Woodrow Wilson School in Robertson Hall.  He will address issues such as the euro crisis, the conflict and Ukraine, war in the Middle East, transatlantic relations, and the future of European integration. Van Rompuy will be joined by Renée Haferkamp, former director general of the European Commission and current advisor to the European Commission; Peter Hall, 2014-15 world politics visiting fellow at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies; and Andrew Moravcsik, a professor of politics and public affairs and director of Princeton's European Union Program.

Herman Van Rompuy was elected as the first full-time president of the European Council in November 2009 and took office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on Dec. 1, 2009. In 2012, he was re-elected for a second term that began June 1, 2012, and ended Nov. 30, 2014.

At the time of his first election, Van Rompuy was prime minister of Belgium. Prior to that, he had served in Belgium as speaker of the House of Representatives (2007-2008) and in several government positions including vice prime minister and minister of budget (1993-1999), minister of state (2004) and secretary of state for finance and small businesses (1988).

A former economist at the National Bank of Belgium, Van Rompuy began his political career in 1973 as national vice president of his party’s youth council. He has held various responsibilities within his party and in the Belgian Parliament, serving as senator (1988-1995) and a member of Parliament (1995-2009).

This event is co-sponsored by the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, the Woodrow Wilson School, the European Union Program at Princeton, the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance, the Program in Law and Public Affairs, and the Program in Contemporary European Politics and Society.