European Union leaders on Thursday reappointed Herman Van Rompuy to continue serving as the bloc's president through the end of 2014, a task the former Belgian prime minister said he accepted "with pleasure", DPA reported
"A privilege to serve Europe in such decisive times; also a big responsibility," he wrote on the website Twitter, one of his favourite lines of communication during EU summits.
The 64-year-old will henceforth also chair regular eurozone summits, the leaders decided. The move formalizes what had been a casual arrangement during the ever more frequent eurozone-only meetings required by Europe's debt crisis.
The fiscal compact, a budget discipline treaty approved in January and due to be signed at this week's EU summit, has institutionalized that role by creating the position of "president of the euro summit."
Van Rompuy's two-and-a-half year mandate as EU president had been due to expire at the end of May.
His role, which was created by the Lisbon Treaty - the EU's new rulebook - is to chair and prepare leaders' meetings and represent the bloc in meetings with other nations.