The European Parliament has chosen Martin Schulz (S&D, Germany) as its new President. MEPs elected Martin Schulz with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast, thus, with absolute majority. He replaces the outgoing President Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland). 

The new President of the European Parliament is the German MEP Martin Schulz. He has been chosen by absolute majority until the beginning of the next legislature in July 2014 and he replaces Jerzy Buzek, who was the President since 2009. The 56-year old German MEP will lead the European parliament for two and half years. Immediately after the vote, Mr Schulz highlighted that the European Parliament is the place where the interests of the people are defended because right now people in Europe have little time for institutional debates because they are too busy worrying about their future, their jobs, or their pensions.

During his speech, Martin Schulz also warned that for the first time since it was founded, the failure of the European Union is a realistic possibility adding that, the EU interests can no longer be separated from those of our neighbours on a shared understanding that the EU is not a zero-sum game, in which one person must lose so that another can win.

With regard to the past two years summits of the Heads of State and Government, Mr Schulz also said that the representatives of the peoples of Europe have essentially been reduced to the role of rubberstamping agreements reached between governments in backrooms in Brussels. He therefore underlined that the European Parliament will not stand idly by and watch this process continue, adding that the intergovernmental agreement on a new fiscal union will be the first test.