Martin Schulz steps down as EU Parliament Chief to enter German politics

Berlin: European Parliament President Martin Schulz said he’ll vacate his post and run for a lower house seat in Germany, marking him as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s potential challengers in next year’s election.

Schulz, a Social Democrat, has led the European Union’s legislature since 2012. As a senior member of the SPD who’s well-known in Germany, he’ll be in a strong position as the party prepares to select its candidate for the top of the ticket in January.

Merkel’s announcement on Sunday that she’ll seek a fourth term in 2017 is spurring the Social Democrats, her junior coalition partner, to consider options.


Party head Sigmar Gabriel hasn’t said whether he’ll be the SPD’s chancellor candidate and Schulz, 60, is considered a possible alternative.

“More than ever, the world needs a united European Union,” Schulz told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

“From now on, I will fight for this project from the national level. Only by doing this will it be possible to regain the lost trust.”

Any SPD candidate will have a steep climb against Merkel, whose Christian Democratic-led bloc leads the Social Democrats by as many as 13 percentage points in national polls.

Germany is expected to hold its next national election in September. For now, Schulz’s European experience makes him the likeliest candidate to succeed Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat whom Merkel’s coalition has proposed as Germany’s next president, a largely ceremonial position. A special assembly will elect the president in February.