Belgian PM Rompuy becomes first EU president

EU leaders chose on Thursday Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to be the first president of the European Union and Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton as new EU foreign policy chief, diplomats said.

The leaders of the EU's 27 countries met in Brussels on Thursday evening to decide who would become the bloc's first president. The post is officially entitled Permanent President of the European Council.

The president will have the role of a figurehead, without executive powers. Under the Lisbon Treaty on EU reform, the president will "take on the work currently assigned to rotating Presidencies."

He will also "facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council."

Van Rompuy, whose term runs for two-and-a-half years, was elected after Britain agreed to drop its demand that former prime minister Tony Blair should be given the job.