Martin Schulz to give up European Parliament for German politics

Martin Schulz will announce this morning (24 November) that he is giving up his bid to serve another term as European Parliament president and will instead campaign for a seat in the German Bundestag in next year’s elections.


German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung first reported late last night that Schulz is planning to run for a Bundestag seat in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Schulz confirmed the move to reporters this morning and is scheduled to give a press conference in the European Parliament at 9:30 am in Brussels.

Schulz, a socialist who has been a member of the European Parliament since 1994 and president since 2012, has been rumoured to be a favourite to become the German Social Democrats’ chancellor candidate next year. Angela Merkel announced on Sunday (20 November) that she will run for a fourth term.

Recent polls indicated that Schulz is more popular among German Social Democrats than Sigmar Gabriel, the current vice chancellor and minister of economy.
 [euractiv.com]
24/11/16