EU reappoints 'Mr Fixit' as president

(BRUSSELS) - EU leaders on Thursday reappointed quiet but canny Belgian politician Herman Van Rompuy as European Union president for a second 30-month term, while also naming him chairman of the 17-nation eurozone.

"It is with pleasure that I accept a second mandate. A privilege to serve Europe in such decisive times; also a big responsibility," said Van Rompuy on microblogging site Twitter.

"I also thank the members of the European Council for the invitation to chair the euro summit meetings, which I accept," he said on the first of a two-day EU summit.

The slight 64-year-old former Belgian premier was ridiculed at the outset of his first mandate as the "invisible president" or "Mister Nobody".

But he has since won plaudits for backroom diplomacy, building a reputation as a discreet and able negotiator at "a job which frankly no one would relish", as analyst Hugo Brady put it.

In his 11 months at the helm of Belgium, the Flemish but francophile politician stabilised a country deeply split between its Dutch-speaking north and poorer French-speaking south, earning the nickname of a Mr Fixit.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Van Rompuy had brought "much-needed coherence" to the work of the European Council of European leaders.

"I would like to state my high personal appreciation of the way in which he has been doing this -- with prudence, patience and intelligence," added Barroso.

Left to steer the troublesome EU ship through two years of financial turbulence, Van Rompuy told Europe's 27 heads of state and government that "the role has been shaped most of all by events, by the sovereign debt crisis.

"The crisis was unprecedented, in intensity and magnitude. In the midst of a storm we had to repair our ship," he said Thursday in a long speech detailing the bloc's drive to restore confidence in the euro, with a return to budgetary rigour and a bid to tighten economic governance.

"If politics is the art of the possible, he's perfect," said Brady, an analyst with the Centre for European Reform.

"As an unpretentious guy from a small country managing a vague and ill-defined brief, it's good he stays on," Brady said. "And these are not times to change."

"He's active, competent and given there's little executive power has done well."

So what does he do? Navigate between the wishes of the big powers and the fears of the smaller nations, according to analysts.

The wily former Belgian premier, a lover of Japanese poetry and a devout Catholic, described himself Thursday as "guardian of the unity of the 27" and said he had worked throughout the past two and a half years to establish trust.

There was scant detail on his new duties as head of the eurozone, other than to chair twice-yearly euro summit meetings and "keep the non-euro area member states closely informed of the preparation and outcome of the summits", according to EU statements.

On the euro, so far "he's channelled French and German expectations but hasn't struck an independent voice", Brady said.

"In a second term we might hear about what he really thinks. Leadership would be welcome," he added.

Van Rompuy, who faced no rival candidates for either post, said he saw his goal as setting up buffers to further trouble.

"The word 'Europe' has long been a sign of hope, embodying peace and prosperity," he said. "In the crisis, this equation has come under stress. It is my and our role, that Europe again becomes a symbol of hope."