New President gives the European Parliament a new image
natalie hamill, 24 January 2012
By Lucy Hatton
Last Tuesday (17 January) German MEP Martin Schulz became the new President of the European Parliament (EP). He may have won a majority at the mid-term presidential election but his election is certainly not without controversy.
Schulz, of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) party group in the EP, was elected with 387 votes out of the 699 cast – an absolute majority of 336 was required in the secret ballot to win election. However, his election was not exactly decided just by Tuesday’s vote, but in an arrangement made behind closed doors back in 2009. The two largest party groups in the EP, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the S&D made a pact to share the five year parliamentary presidential term, with a right-wing EPP President for the first two and a half years, in the form of the EPP’s Polish MEP Jerzy Buzek, and a left-wing S&D candidate taking over for the latter two and a half years. It was at this point in time that Schulz was proposed as Buzek’s potential successor.
Given this history, some might think it rather ill-thought out that Schulz should chose his acceptance speech to underline his commitment to improving democracy in the EP and to reducing the number of ‘backroom deals’ made by the powerful leaders of the party groups! Perhaps even hypocritical, as that is how his election came about. The pact between the two groupings has been heavily criticised by the smaller party groups which felt that they had no chance of effectively competing with Schulz. Nevertheless, Schulz’s election was contended by two MEPs, Nirj Deva of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, who came second with 142 votes, and Diana Wallis of the Liberal group, who came third with 141 votes, and who has subsequently resigned her seat in the Parliament.
The character of the new President has also come under question, with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso warning of Schulz’s “strong personality”, and Green MEP Rebecca Harris telling Schulz: “the harsher sides of you … have sometimes made it very difficult to work with you”. UKIP MEP Nigel Farage described the new President as “snarling, angry and unable to control his temper” and “anti-British to his fingertips”. It has been reported that Schulz has clashed with other European politicians, perhaps most notably in 2003 when then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suggested Schulz was well suited to playing a Nazi concentration camp guard in a film. In addition, British MEP Godfrey Bloom was expelled from the parliamentary chamber in 2010 for calling Schulz an “undemocratic fascist”.
Not only is Schulz’s character in stark contrast to that of Buzek, he also intends to undertake the role in a different manner. Buzek engaged wholeheartedly in the ceremonious and representative aspects of the role whilst maintaining a rather low political profile, whereas Schulz has declared his intention to bring politics back to the role of President. He has also vowed to improve the EP’s position in EU legislating, particularly in reference to negotiations on the Euro in which the EP is especially marginalised.
The election of a socialist to the role of EP President marks the end of two and a half years of centre-right control over the EU’s institutions, with the top three posts all previously held by conservatives. The contrasting depictions of Schulz and Buzek also indicate a potentially significant shift in the character of the EP. With the next elections to the EP set for 2014, Schulz has two and a half years in which to make his mark on his new role, and only time will tell in exactly what direction this controversial individual will take the EP and to what extent he will achieve his aims.