| New President of the European Parliament demands new powers |
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The German press explains that Schulz’s intentions are to make the EP into a counterbalance to the European Council where currently political initiatives seem to be taken with “no regard for what is written in the treaties” — as the social-democrat phrased it. Given that his political career is not approaching an end, according to Der Spiegel, he seems determined to be actively involved in a struggle for the upholding of the treaty rights entrusted to the institution he now leads. This would come in contrast to his predecessor, which according to the Polish press, has always opted to avoid confrontation and always tried to find compromise. “For the first time since the founding of the European Union, the failure of the EU has become a possibility,” Schulz said, arguing that the fiscal treaty would be the first test for the Parliament to negotiate for more involvement and motivating his leadership intentions. The function of president of the European Parliament is, among others, to lead the plenary sessions and represent the institution in its relation with other EU bodies. However, the post is a prestigious one, and the election process makes it difficult for candidates from smaller political parties to secure the position. Diana Wallis from ALDE ran as an independent as a protest to the fixing of the presidential terms between the two big factions. Moreover, upon her defeat, she announced her resignation from the European Parliament with her seat being possibly taken over by the next on her national party list — her husband. Martin Schulz won the election with 387 votes out of 670 on Tuesday 17 January during the Strasbourg plenary session, defeating the other two candidates — conservative Nirj Deva and liberal Dianna Wallis. As leader of the S&D faction in the EP and follower of Schulz, Hannes Swoboda was elected with 57% of the votes in the group to replace the position held by Schulz before his election as President of the Parliament. Sources:  |
German social democrat Martin Schulz has been elected the new President of the European Parliament (EP), following the two-and-a-half year rule of EPP’s Jerzy Buzek. “No one has a bigger mouth than he does”, said Der Spiegel about Schulz, his mandate already starting with signs that he wants to shake things up. Arguing that the increase in the number of European summits is excluding the EP from important decisions, he said that the EP “wants a raised profile, wants its voice heard and wants to carry more weight”.