EU meeting to test famous Van Rompuy calm

Herman Van Rompuy has threatened to keep Europe’s leaders in Brussels for as long as it takes to reach a budget deal this weekend, writes the Independent’s Nigel Morris. After his election as the European Council’s first full-time president, he was much ridiculed by British Eurosceptics, with Ukip leader Nigel Farage telling him he had “all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk”. Many British Labour MPs were disappointed that the post had not gone to Tony Blair. But the former Belgian prime minister has impressed with his calm performance at the helm during the continuing turbulence in the Eurozone. His reputation for achieving consensus dates back to his time at the helm of culturally and linguistically divided Belgium, and will be sorely tested when 27 leaders – each with their own priorities for EU spending – gather in Brussels tomorrow.