Strasbourg, 07/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 June, the president of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Martin Schulz of Germany, officially stated his intention to run as successor to Jerzy Buzek of Poland at the head of the European Parliament. “As I told my group, I am hoping to become the president of the European Parliament”, he said. In his view, the EP must continue relentlessly to defend the idea of European integration, which is currently having such a rough time. “We do not need less Europe but more Europe” to meet the challenges facing the continent, he said.
When asked about Schulz's candidature, the president of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul of France, said his group would respect the “technical agreement” sealed with the S&D at the beginning of the legislature. “I do not believe this will pose a problem”, he said. The EPP and S&D, the two main political groups at the EP which together have absolute majority, reached an agreement at the beginning of the legislature whereby they share the presidency of the Parliament and support the candidates proposed. Such was the case between 2004 and 2009 with the presidencies of Spanish Socialist Josep Borrell Fontelles and German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering. The S&D Group is expected to nominate its candidate in September. The European Parliament is due to elect its president in January, and the president's term of office will run until the European elections in 2014. (M.B./transl.jl)