Schulz quits EU post to return to German politics
brussels — European Parliament President Martin Schulz is returning to German politics, raising the prospect he may challenge Angela Merkel as chancellor and prompting speculation of a reshuffle in European Union institutions.
Schulz, a Social Democrat, told a news conference he would not stand for re-election as speaker of the EU legislature and instead campaign for a parliamentary seat in Berlin next year.
He made no comment on speculation he may succeed departing German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier or become the Social Democrat SPD’s candidate to challenge the conservative Merkel’s bid for a fourth term as chancellor in September’s parliamentary election. Schulz, 60, had been pushing for a third 30-month term as EU parliament president in defiance of a deal that he make way for a speaker from the centre-right, the chamber’s biggest group.
Should the conservatives, who have formed an effective grand coalition in Brussels with Schulz’s centre-left, claim the presidency in January, all three main EU political bodies would be headed by the centre-right — a possibility that has raised talk of change at the European Commission and European Council.
Commission President JeanClaude Juncker had pressed his fellow conservatives in Parliament to let Schulz stay on in the interests of stability following Britain’s vote in June to leave the
Schulz may challenge Merkel as chancellor
> Martin Schulz , a Social Democrat, is likely to challenge Angela Merkel as chancellor. > Schulz says he would not stand for re-election as speaker of the EU legislature and instead campaign for a parliamentary seat in Berlin next year. > His departure prompts speculation of a reshuffle in European Union institutions. bloc. He denied earlier this week that he had threatened to resign himself if Schulz were forced out. Luxemburger Juncker, who said on Thursday he regretted Schulz’s departure, has a five-year mandate running until October 2019. Council President Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who will chair Brexit negotiations, has a 30-month mandate that expires in May. —