The 2009 transition from the rotating to the permanent presidency of the European Council

This chapter, part of an ongoing and much larger research and book project, uses interviews with some of the leading protagonists of the time to recount the immediate December 2009 transition from the rotating to the permanent presidency of the European Council. It describes how Herman Van Rompuy came to be appointed the first permanent President of the European Council and how the transition from the Swedish rotating presidency was pragmatically managed. It seeks to give a first ‘taste’ of the results of our ongoing interview-based research. It gives a sense of how much of that relatively smooth transition was a result of a mixture of good luck, enlightened improvisation and collective wisdom.