Parliament readies for changing of the guard

Martin Schulz, the German MEP at the helm of the European Parliament, will depart in early 2017, throwing the political direction of the institution into doubt.

Schulz has led the EU’s directly-elected institution since 2014 and has strongly championed greater influence for MEPs across issues including budget negotiations, institutional appointments or the EU’s foreign policy.

However, socialist Schulz entered office under a ‘power-sharing’ agreement between the three largest political groupings in Parliament, nicknamed the Grand Coalition—raising questions about how the political weightings will shift on his departure.