So farewell then “Little Belgian"

Today the Belgian press is paying its respects to Karel Van Miert, ex-European commissioner, who on June 22, at the age of 67, died of heart failure after falling from a ladder in his garden. De Standaard devotes its front page to this “affable” statesman, who served as head of the Flemish Socialist Party (SP.A) and as European commissioner for ten years – first for transport and consumer policy, later for competition. For the Flemish daily, he left his mark on both Belgian and European politics: in the 1980s, Van Miert succeeded in “ridding the Socialist party of its sectarian, authoritarian style in favour of an open-minded Social Democratic approach”. De Standaard even wonders whether “[the SP.A ever really got over Van Miert's departure](http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=PG2BMCUD&word=passie)” when he left to join the Commission. Initially nicknamed the “little Belgian", he soon earned respect, building up “a solid reputation for himself entirely under his own steam and by putting his convictions across”.concurrence.