84-777: Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure he was Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2004 to 2012, President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017 and Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018. In November 2016, Schulz announced he would not seek
168-537: A free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Text taken from EU closes in on target for gender parity in the European Parliament; , Kashyap Raibagi/VoxEurop, EDJNet. Enrique Bar%C3%B3n Crespo Enrique Barόn Crespo (born 27 March 1944) is a Spanish politician, economist, and lawyer. He is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and was a member of
252-417: A film about Nazi concentration-camps. I will recommend you for the role of a Kapo [concentration-camp inmate appointed as supervisor]. You are perfect! Berlusconi later claimed he was referring to the comedy-series Hogan's Heroes , where a slow-witted character named Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz, played by John Banner , starred. Even though Berlusconi insisted that he was just being ironic, his comparisons with
336-564: A lot of negative attention. As a consequence, a large majority of the European Parliament voted on 4 April 2014 to invite Schulz to resign so that he would be able to campaign for the European elections. Lastly, Schulz was criticized about the tax-free daily allowance of €304 the President of the Parliament received, until 18 April 2014, which he received while he was campaigning to become President of
420-684: A national level. There are usually a number of former prime ministers and former members of the European Commission . Many other MEPs have held office at a regional or local level in their home states. Current MEPs also include former judges, trade union leaders, media personalities, actors, soldiers, singers, athletes, and political activists. Many outgoing MEPs move into other political office. Several presidents, prime ministers or deputy prime ministers of member states are former MEPs, including former Presidents of France Nicolas Sarkozy , Francois Hollande , Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand ,
504-564: A national of that state. The following citizens have been elected in a state other than their native country; It is conventional for countries acceding to the European Union to send a number of observers to Parliament in advance. The number of observers and their method of appointment (usually by national parliaments) is laid down in the joining countries' Treaties of Accession. Observers may attend debates and take part by invitation, but they may not vote or exercise other official duties. When
588-439: A proposal, which was supported by France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Germany who together have QMV majority, to create a European Air Force composed of surveillance drones, heavy transport airplanes, and air-to-air refuelling planes. The debate was joined with a view presented by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen , who maintained that "Nato will remain the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic security." Rasmussen's view prevailed on
672-534: A study exploring the results of the election in terms of gender balance. EU institutions have focused on how to achieve a better gender balance (at least 40 per cent) or gender parity (50 per cent) in the next Parliament, and for other high-level posts in other institutions. In the 2019 elections 308 female MEPs were elected (41 per cent). Sweden elected the highest percentage of female MEPs: 55 per cent. Overall, thirteen countries elected 45 to 55 per cent female MEPs, with seven countries reaching exactly 50 per cent. On
756-589: A third term as President of the European Parliament, but instead would stand in 2017 as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship . In January 2017, Sigmar Gabriel announced he would not stand for re-election as party leader and as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship, Gabriel recommended Schulz as his replacement. After the elections of September 2017, which resulted in a postwar low for
840-405: Is approximately €2.247 billion per year according to its 2023 budget, with the cost of translation and interpretation, and the cost of its buildings in two main locations, being significant extra burdens not faced by national parliaments. Until 2009, MEPs were paid (by their own Member State) exactly the same salary as a member of the lower House of their own national parliament. As a result, there
924-556: Is based in Brussels, where some six supplementary plenary sessions are held for two days each, and where the Parliament's committees, political groups, and other organs also mainly meet. The obligation to spend one week a month in Strasbourg was imposed on Parliament by the member state governments at the 1992 European Council meeting in Edinburgh. The total cost of the European Parliament
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#17330852671661008-621: Is prohibited as of 2009. In the 2004–2009 Parliament, a small number of members still held a dual mandate. Ian Paisley and John Hume once held triple mandates as MEP, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons , and Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly simultaneously. Women are generally under-represented in politics and public life in the EU, as well as in national parliaments, governments and local assemblies. The percentage of women in
1092-443: Is widely considered an ardent EU supporter. He has hailed European unification as being civilization's greatest achievement over the past century. In 2014, however, he argued it was also essential that responsibility was delegated away from Brussels and down to national, regional and local authorities, allowing the EU to focus on the big issues. As a result of Schulz's pro-Europeanism , both supporters and detractors have linked him with
1176-682: The 1994 European elections Schulz was elected to the European Parliament and between 2000 and 2004 was chair of the SPD delegation. Schulz has served on a number of committees, including the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Subcommittee on Human Rights . He led the German delegation of the Socialist group (SPD members) from 2000 and was also a vice-chair of the Socialist Group in
1260-516: The 2009 European elections ; the post eventually went to Günther Oettinger . Following the 2009 European elections Schulz came to public attention when he insisted that his group should not immediately approve a second term of office for European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and instead, together with the Chair of the Green Group in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit , proposed
1344-572: The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the European Union. The Prize, honoring "over six decades [having] contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe", was awarded by a unanimous decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee . As president of European Parliament, Schulz proved extremely adept at delicate diplomatic missions, such as his visit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following
1428-428: The 2014 European Parliament election 11 countries of 28 reached this goal in their own quota of elected candidates. While in nine EU countries there were mechanisms in place to facilitate female representation, only in four of these countries did women exceeded 40 per cent of elected candidates. On the other hand, in eight countries this goal was reached despite the absence of such systems. The FEMM Committee requested
1512-566: The 2016 coup attempt and his visit with Iranian President Hassan Rohani in November 2015 to "intensify dialogue" between the EU and Iran a few months after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action . In November 2016, Schulz announced that he would not run for a third term in January 2017, and instead return to German politics. He resigned his seat on 10 February 2017, leaving
1596-759: The European Parliament for the Party of European Socialists group until 2009. Enrique Barón graduated in law from the University of Madrid and in business administration at ICADE , in Madrid, and ESSEC , in Paris, business schools, in 1965. As a practising lawyer, he specialised in labour law, and acted for defendants in political cases (1970–1977). He was a Deputy in the Cortes (1977–1987) representing Madrid region and
1680-685: The Netherlands , Schulz has relatives in all three countries. After four years at primary school, from 1962 to 1966, Schulz attended the Heilig-Geist (Holy Spirit) gymnasium , a private Roman Catholic school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers (or Spiritans), in Broich (now Würselen ), a district of the town of Broichweiden, for nine years. As a teenager, he went to France on a school exchange programme. He left school without passing his Abitur after failing
1764-510: The Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 40 and 70 per cent of the seats together. No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament. As a result of being broad alliances of national parties, European groups parties are decentralised and hence have more in common with parties in federal states like Germany or the United States than unitary states like the majority of
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#17330852671661848-560: The 11th grade twice. From 1975 to 1977 Schulz then trained to be a bookseller. The next two years he worked for a number of publishing houses and bookshops. In 1980 Schulz suffered from alcoholism . After a successful rehab Schulz opened his own bookshop in Würselen in 1982. In 1974, at the age of 19, Schulz joined the SPD , became involved with the Young Socialists and in 1984 was elected to
1932-556: The Belgian Liberal Guy Verhofstadt as a candidate for that office. Following reassurances by Barroso, Schulz dropped his categorical opposition to him, insisting only that he should make certain political concessions to the Social Democrats. As a result, the majority of the group abstained on the confidence vote to Barroso. On 15 September 2011, members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in
2016-641: The CDU/CSU was fellow MEP Herbert Reul . During his 2014 campaign for the Presidency of the European Commission, Schulz established himself as a regular presence in German media on issues unconnected to the European Parliament elections that year. By 2015, German newspapers speculated that Schulz was interested in running for the chancellorship of Germany in the 2017 federal elections . In May 2016, he told weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag that he would not enter
2100-597: The Chamber. Schulz received criticism after having transformed the Twitter account that his staff had built up for his European Parliament presidency into his own personal account in order to use it as part of his candidature to the EU Commission. During his time as President of the European Parliament, Schulz removed a paragraph critical of his stewardship in a key committee report set for debate on 2 April 2014, thereby attracting
2184-514: The Council at this time because QMV does not take effect in decisions of the European Council until 1 November 2014. Schulz believes that dignified work is a value in itself. For that reason, he says, he is not a proponent of the concept of unconditional basic income . However, Schulz is much in favour of decent wage agreements, secure and lasting jobs, employee participation in decision-making and
2268-623: The EP. He was elected group leader in 2004, of the PSE Group, succeeding the Spaniard Enrique Barón Crespo , a position held until he was elected EP president. Since 2009, Schulz has also acted as the representative for European Affairs for Germany's SPD party and his views have deeply influenced his party's pro-European politics. In 2004 as Leader of the S&;D group, Schulz introduced a motion in
2352-464: The EU parliament has increased from 15.2 per cent after the first European Parliament election in 1979 to 41 per cent after 2019 European Parliament election . To reach gender parity, women should hold 50 per cent of seats and positions of power. However, according to the goal set by the European Institute for Gender Equality , a ratio between 40 and 60 per cent is considered acceptable. After
2436-511: The EU states. Although, the European groups, between 2004 and 2009, were actually more cohesive than their US counterparts. Aside from working through their groups, individual members are also guaranteed a number of individual powers and rights within the Parliament: Every month except August the Parliament meets in Strasbourg for a four-day plenary session. For the rest of the time, it
2520-451: The EU, Britain's Labour Party had publicly spoken out against Schulz as the left's candidate, instead favouring Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark's Social Democrats . Schulz launched his European campaign on 17 April in front of 1,600 socialist activists in Paris, promising to tackle taxes and social dumping. He ran against Conservative Jean-Claude Juncker , then Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and Liberal Guy Verhofstadt . However, when
2604-475: The European Commission but remained in his current position. Since 1999, Schulz has been part of the SPD leadership under party chairmen Gerhard Schröder (1999–2004), Franz Müntefering (2004–05 and 2008–09), Matthias Platzeck (2005–06), Kurt Beck (2006–08) and Sigmar Gabriel (2009–17). Within the party, he serves as co-chairman of the Commission for International Politics, alongside Niels Annen . Schulz
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2688-480: The European Community (EC), in 1986. As early as 1987, he ran for President of the European Parliament, but after three rounds of voting was defeated by only five votes to his British opponent, Charles Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb. On 25 July 1989 he was elected in the very first ballot as the youngest President of the European Parliament. He relinquished this office - as is customary in the European Parliament - after
2772-778: The European Parliament A member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament . When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community ) first met in 1952, its members were directly appointed by the governments of member states from among those already sitting in their own national parliaments. Since 1979, however, MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage every five years. Each member state establishes its own method for electing MEPs – and in some states this has changed over time – but
2856-475: The European Parliament after more than twenty-two years. On 6 November 2013, Schulz was nominated as "candidate designate" by the Party of European Socialists – at the time the second-largest group in the 750-seat parliament –, with the aim to become the first candidate to be elected President of the European Commission by democratic elections. He was unopposed , as no other candidate stepped forward to challenge him in
2940-546: The European Parliament to refuse to give approval/consent to the Barroso Commission on the basis of the proposed appointment of Italian nominee Rocco Buttiglione and his publicly expressed homophobic views. A large majority of MEPs from the other political groups followed and consequently Buttiglione was withdrawn and replaced by Franco Frattini . By 2008, SPD chairman Kurt Beck has said he wanted Schulz to succeed Günter Verheugen as Germany's EU commissioner following
3024-428: The European Parliament unanimously nominated Schulz as their candidate for the President of the European Parliament. On 17 January 2012, Schulz was elected as President of the European Parliament, with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast. Other candidates were Nirj Deva (142 votes) and Diana Wallis (141 votes). Together with EU Commission President Barroso and EU Council President Herman van Rompuy , Schulz collected
3108-720: The Nazis caused a brief diplomatic rift between the two. On 24 November 2010 the British MEP Godfrey Bloom caused a row in the European Parliament when he interrupted a speech by Martin Schulz, heckling him with the Nazi propaganda slogan Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer ('one people, one empire, one leader') and accusing him of being an 'undemocratic fascist'. Bloom later stated that he was referring to
3192-1045: The SPD would not renew its Grand coalition with the CDU under Angela Merkel but head into opposition. Schulz explicitly refused to serve in a Merkel government. However, after the attempt to form a "Jamaica coalition" between CDU/CSU, FDP and Greens failed in November 2017 and President Steinmeier asked him to reconsider, Schulz reverted his position and began coalition talks with the CDU/CSU parties. In February 2018, these coalition talks concluded successfully and Schulz announced he would succeed incumbent Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel as Foreign minister. After heavy public and internal criticism, Schulz stepped down as SPD Leader on 13 February 2018 and proposed Andrea Nahles as his replacement; and shortly thereafter he also gave up his attempt to become Foreign minister. The attempt to install Nahles as acting party leader faced severe criticism from several regional party associations as well as experts in constitutional law. The party executive nominated Nahles as
3276-474: The SPD, Schulz declared the end of the existing Grand coalition under Angela Merkel and explicitly refused to serve in a Merkel government. On 7 February 2018, coalition talks concluded and Schulz announced he would succeed Sigmar Gabriel as Foreign minister and leave his party chairmanship to Andrea Nahles . After heavy public and internal criticism, Schulz decided not to enter the new cabinet. On 13 February 2018 Schulz stepped down as party chair. Martin Schulz
3360-401: The Social Democrats' candidate for chancellor in that year's Federal election. In March he was unanimously chosen as official head of the party, the first time in post-war Germany a leader of the SPD received no dissenting vote. Following the announcement of his nomination, his party gained an average of ten percentage points in public opinion polls. For a short period of time the SPD was close to
3444-660: The Socialists came second in the European election behind the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), Germany's Social Democrats announced that they would accept one of Chancellor Angela Merkel 's conservatives taking the German post on the European Commission if Schulz remained president of the European Parliament. The decision to back Juncker for the Commission's presidency instead was later endorsed at an informal meeting in Paris of eight Social Democratic leaders, including Thorning-Schmidt, Sigmar Gabriel of Germany and Werner Faymann of Austria. Accordingly, Schulz did not join
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3528-552: The US, and that in many cases Europe would be quite incapable of carrying out a military operation without the support of the US. Schulz was quoted in a newspaper report of his speech as having said: "If we wish to defend our values and interests, if we wish to maintain the security of our citizens, then a majority of MEPs consider that we need a headquarters for civil and military missions in Brussels and deployable troops," The External Action Service of HRUFASP Catherine Ashton had prepared
3612-449: The Union parties of Chancellor Merkel, during this time political observers regarded it possible that Schulz could unseat Merkel in the federal election on 24 September 2017. Polls also showed Schulz leading Merkel if Germans could elect their chancellor directly. With unemployment hitting new lows each month during the campaign, Schulz later struggled to gain traction with a message focusing on
3696-700: The Würselen Municipal Council, remaining a member for just over two electoral terms, to 1998, from 1987 onwards as mayor. At 31, he was then the youngest mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia . He held that office until 1998. As a municipal counselor he initiated the twinning of Würselen with the city of Morlaix in French Brittany , where he became friends with Marylise Lebranchu , who was the mayor and later became French Minister of Justice (2000–2002) and Minister for Public Services (2012–2016). In
3780-468: The basis of universal suffrage . There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to three restrictions: The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality , so that, while the size of the population of each nation is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than would be strictly justified by their populations alone. As
3864-479: The collapse of the European Union. Following the incident, the President of Parliament, Jerzy Buzek , excluded Bloom from the Chamber. The Dutch MEP Barry Madlener , from the right-wing populist Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV – Freedom Party), then protested against that decision, on the grounds that Schulz himself had recently described the PVV MEP Daniël van der Stoep as a fascist, but had not been excluded from
3948-401: The commission. This was paid for 365 days a year, in addition to his salary of 200 thousand euros per year. A member of parliament receives this daily allowance only for attending. In April 2017, the European Parliament, as part of its decision to discharge the financial year 2015, criticized two personnel matters where Schulz had been responsible for as President of Parliament. An employee of
4032-601: The complaint as an election maneuver by "anti-Europeans, conservatives and Greens" and referred a decision of the European Anti-Fraud Office not to initiate an official investigation. On the day of the 2017 Federal Election , Schulz said he would under no circumstances become a minister of a government led by Angela Merkel or negotiate to form a Grand Coalition . After the SPD and Union parties finished their coalition talks on 6 February 2018, he made his intentions clear that he wanted to be Foreign Minister in
4116-481: The control of the European Parliament. Schulz has often emphasised that the European Union is the best way to banish the "demons of the twentieth century", such as racism, xenophobia and antisemitism. The Jerusalem Post criticised his words on antisemitism as "meaningless condemnations". After the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a membership referendum , Schulz warned in mid-2016: "If we break
4200-404: The countries then become full member states, these observers become full MEPs for the interim period between accession and the next European elections. From 26 September 2005 to 31 December 2006, Bulgaria had 18 observers in Parliament and Romania 35. These were selected from government and opposition parties as agreed by the countries' national parliaments. Following accession on 1 January 2007,
4284-493: The drop, Malta still elected 50 per cent women in 2019. Cyprus dropped from 17 per cent in 2014 to zero women this year, while Estonia dropped from 50 to 33 per cent. Hungary , Lithuania and Luxembourg made the greatest gains (19, 18 and 17 percentage points respectively) when we compare 2019 with 2014, followed by Slovenia and Latvia , both increasing their percentage of women MEPs by 13 points. Luxembourg, Slovenia and Latvia all elected 50 per cent female MEPs. As of 2019 ,
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#17330852671664368-499: The euro-pound exchange rate). The much-criticised expenses arrangements were also partially reformed. Members declare their financial interests in order to prevent any conflicts of interest. These declarations are published in a register and are available on the Internet. They must also make a detailed declaration of private interests, listing their memberships of company boards, associations, and public bodies (including those held during
4452-488: The examination of the social justification for claims and payments. In an effort to improve relations between Europe and Cuba , Schulz led a European Parliament delegation to Havana for talks with Carlos Lage Dávila on lifting EU sanction against the countries in 2008. In 2014, Schulz delivered a speech to the Israeli Knesset , in which he criticised Israel for denying Palestinians a fair share of water resources in
4536-521: The fact that the indoctrination of the German people under the Nazi regime has long-lasting effects; "some Germans still find it difficult to accept diversity in Europe and differences of opinion". In the debate on the future of the Euro Stability Pact Schulz had criticised the role played by the United Kingdom, which was involved in the discussions despite not being a member of the eurozone, and said that some eurosceptics would take pleasure in
4620-476: The former Deputy PM of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg , current Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni , Danish former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt , and Belgian former PM Elio Di Rupo . A dual mandate, in which an individual is a member of both their national parliament and the European Parliament , was officially discouraged by a growing number of political parties and member states, and
4704-503: The funeral in 2015 of murdered opposition figure Boris Nemtsov , Schulz criticised the barring as "a high affront to EU–Russia relations and the work of democratic institutions". In 2016, Schulz stated that Donald Trump is a problem "for the whole world," and linked the Trump phenomenon to far-right populism in Europe. He called Trump an "irresponsible man" who "boasts about not having a clue". On 2 July 2003, one day after Italy taking over
4788-505: The ills of inequality in Germany . Shortly before the election, he refocused his campaign on the risk of a rekindled European migrant crisis . In July 2017, illness forced Schulz's campaign manager and friend Markus Engels to step down. In the federal elections on 24 September 2017, the Social Democrats slumped to 20.5 percent, a new postwar low. Within an hour of the first exit poll, Schulz confirmed statements by other senior party figures that
4872-458: The instruments with which we banish the demons, we will set them free again." He is one of the 27 initiators of the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights published in November 2016 Of the European Union. In December 2017, Schulz called for a new constitutional treaty for a " United States of Europe ". He proposed that this constitution should be written by "a convention that includes civil society and
4956-411: The monthly salary is of €8,932.86 , or just over €107,000 per year. MEPs also receive a general expenditure allowance of €4,563 per month. The single statute represented a pay cut for MEPs from some member states (e.g. Italy, Germany and Austria), a rise for others (particularly the low-paid eastern European members) and status quo for those from the United Kingdom, until January 2020 (depending on
5040-506: The new leader, with Olaf Scholz , as the longest-serving deputy, taking over as acting party leader until the party conference on 22 April 2018. In December 2020, Schulz announced that he would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term. At the same time, he was elected to chair the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation - a position he occupies to this day. Schulz
5124-485: The next government. This was met by heavy criticism from the party base, as Schulz was abandoning his word for a second time—the first being his vow not to enter coalition talks with Angela Merkel. The harshest criticism came from the incumbent Foreign Minister and his predecessor as SPD leader, Sigmar Gabriel . He accused Schulz and the Party leadership of not showing him the respect he deserves and being rude towards him. This public attack, coupled with internal pressure from
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#17330852671665208-430: The number of MEPs granted to each member state has arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all national governments. The European Parliament has a high turnover of members compared to some national parliaments. After every recent election, just over half of elected members had not been members in
5292-562: The observers became MEPs (with some personnel changes). Similarly, Croatia had 12 observer members from 17 April 2012, appointed by the Croatian parliament in preparation for its accession in 2013. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Text taken from How gender balanced will the next European Parliament be? , Gina Pavone/OBC Transeuropa, EDJNet. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
5376-578: The occupied West Bank . The speech sparked a walk-out by several lawmakers from the Jewish Home party, and drew a public rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . In 2015, amid the Russo-Ukrainian War , Schulz suspended a committee made up of Russian and EU lawmakers that meets several times a year to improve ties. When Russia barred entry to two politicians from the EU who had planned to attend
5460-469: The other hand, Cyprus has elected zero women, and Slovakia elected only 15 percent. Other Eastern European countries, namely Romania , Greece , Lithuania and Bulgaria , all elected fewer than 30 per cent female MEPs. Eight member states elected a lower number of women in 2019 than in 2014. Malta , Cyprus and Estonia lost the most female representation in the EU parliament, dropping by 17 percentage points, while Slovakia dropped by 16. However, despite
5544-479: The parliament received an expatriation allowance of around 20,000 euros, even though his center of life had previously been in Berlin. The employee was a confidant of Schulz and later worked for the SPD as its campaign manager. Schulz was also accused of signing irregular promotions of close associates in a presidential decree that would have secured them financially advantageous posts beyond his departure. Schulz described
5628-571: The party leadership, led Schulz to retract prior statements and on 9 February 2018 he released a statement saying he would not enter into the new government; he resigned as leader of the SPD effective 13 February 2018. Schulz is married and has two children, Nico and Lina. He was raised Catholic but is now lapsed . He suffered a period of alcoholism as a young man, after a knee injury put an end to his hopes of playing football . Besides German, Schulz speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch with varying degrees of fluency. Member of
5712-426: The people" and that any state that declined to accept this proposed constitution should have to leave the bloc. His proposal is "likely to be met with some resistance from Merkel and other EU leaders". In front of the European Council on 19 December 2013, Schulz took responsibility for the initiation of the Cox-Kwaśniewski mission to Ukraine. In the same speech, he noted that Europe was still militarily dependent on
5796-472: The previous parliament. Elmar Brok served the longest continuous term from the first elections in 1980 until 2019 (39 years). MEPs organise themselves into cross-national political groups , except for a few non-attached members known as Non-Inscrits who choose not to join a Group (or no Group wants them). The two largest groups are the European People's Party Group (EPP Group) and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D). These two groups have dominated
5880-445: The race to be the socialist campaign figurehead. This kicked off a tour to all member states and particularly all member parties. On 1 March 2014, Schulz accepted the nomination of the Party of European Socialists in Rome. He was elected by 368 PES members out of 404, with only 2 votes against him. Prior to the vote, in what was widely seen as a clear signal to its European partners on the left that there are limits to their support for
5964-404: The race to succeed Angela Merkel. In November 2016, Schulz announced that he would not seek a third term as president of the European Parliament, but would instead run for a seat on the German parliament in the 2017 elections, which reignited the chancellorship speculations. On 24 January 2017, Schulz was confirmed as the Social Democrats' candidate for chancellor. On 24 January 2017, Schulz became
6048-499: The rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU , Schulz criticized Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy of his domestic policy . Berlusconi replied: Signor Schulz, so che in Italia c'è un produttore che sta montando un film sui campi di concentramento nazisti: la suggerirò per il ruolo di kapò. Lei è perfetto! In English: Mister Schulz, I know of a film-producer in Italy who is making
6132-451: The same immunities as their own national parliamentarians. In other member states, MEPs are immune from detention and from legal proceedings, except when caught in the act of committing an offense. This immunity may be waived by application to the European Parliament by the authorities of the member state in question. Around a third of MEPs have previously held national parliamentary mandates, and over 10 per cent have ministerial experience at
6216-413: The slogan "MEGA" – "Make Europe Great Again" – as a parody of US President Donald Trump 's " Make America Great Again ". Schulz is committed to strengthening Europe and the European institutions. In 2016, he presented a ten-point plan for a reform of the EU with Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel . It calls for a "streamlining" of European structures and the establishment of a strong European government under
6300-428: The system chosen must be a form of proportional representation . Some member states elect their MEPs to represent a single national constituency; other states apportion seats to sub-national regions for election. There may also be non-voting observers when a new country is seeking membership of the European Union . From 1 January 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, there were 785 MEPs, but their number
6384-509: The three years prior to their election). They must also publish on-line all meetings that they have had with lobbyists and representatives of third country governments. They may not accept gifts, other than courtesy gifts valued at less than €150. They must declare all sources of outside income if their total outside income exceeds €5000. Under the protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Union , MEPs in their home state receive
6468-465: The youngest MEP is Kira Marie Peter-Hansen of Denmark, who was 21 at the start of the July 2019 session, and is also the youngest person ever elected to the European Parliament. The oldest MEP ever was Manolis Glezos who was 92 when elected in 2014. European citizens are eligible for election in the member state where they reside (subject to the residence requirements of that state); they do not have to be
6552-438: Was Minister of Transport, Tourism and Communications (1982–1985). In that period he proposed the dismantlement of many miles of both major and secondary railway routes. The proposal was based on reports which understated the importance of these lines. After election to the European Parliament he was President of the European Parliament (1989–1992), and was PES Group chairman from 1 November 1999 to 15 July 2004. He
6636-690: Was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (1992–1995). Barόn is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation and the Advisory Board of think tank Gold Mercury International , London, UK. He is an active player in Gold Mercury 's Brand EU initiative to improve the management and promotion of the European Union brand and monitor its progress. In March 2008, Barón Crespo
6720-508: Was a wide range of salaries in the European Parliament. In 2002, Italian MEPs earned €130,000, while Spanish MEPs earned less than a quarter of that at €32,000. However, in July 2005, the Council agreed to a single statute for all MEPs, following a proposal by the Parliament. Thus, since the 2009 elections, all MEPs receive a monthly pre-tax salary set at 38.5 percent of that of a judge at the European Court of Justice . As of July 1, 2019,
6804-535: Was an SPD delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections , he was part of the wider leadership circle chaired by Angela Merkel , Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel . He also led the SPD delegation in the working group on European affairs; his co-chair of
6888-544: Was born in the village of Hehlrath, which is now a part of Eschweiler in western Rhineland, near the Dutch and Belgian borders, as one of five children. His father, Albert Schulz, was a local policeman and belonged to a social democratic family; his mother, Clara, belonged to a conservative Catholic family and was active in the Christian Democratic Union . Having grown up in the border area between Germany, Belgium and
6972-682: Was received by the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano together with the CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini and the General Director Giorgio Zappa, at the end of the concerto for the 60th birth anniversary of the Italian arms manufacturer Finmeccanica . In 1985, Barón resigned as a minister and became a member of the European Parliament after Spain joined the European Union (EU), or what was then
7056-456: Was reduced to 736 at the elections in 2009. With effect from the elections held in May 2014 the number had risen to 751. This has been reduced to 705 members after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in January 2020, with each member state now having at least six and at most 96 MEPs. From the 2024 elections, there will be 720 members. Elections are held once every five years, on
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