[1] Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier.
It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy (Christian Democratic and Flemish, CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister after the Leterme I Government fell on 22 December 2008.
On 18 December 2008, Yves Leterme offered his government's resignation to King Albert after a scandal erupted surrounding the investigation of the sale of the failing Fortis bank to BNP Paribas.
To be official, the Van Rompuy I government needed a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Representatives.
Its initial composition is as follows:[5] On 17 July 2009, as a consequence of the regional elections, the government was reshuffled: