by
Albrecht Meier
Martin Schulz’s credentials as a domestic politician are still a largely unknown quantity. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) wants to defend democracy and focus more on the everyday worries of the public, he said yesterday (25 January) during his first appearance as the party’s candidate for the chancellorship.
The former European Parliament president will go into more details on Sunday (29 January) at the SPD headquarters, when he is expected to outline his vision for the September election.
In Brussels, Schulz built up a reputation as a tenacious advocate of the European idea. His erstwhile rival for the SPD nomination, Sigmar Gabriel, said that Schulz is “a German European and a European German”, following the announcement of the party’s decision.
But what does the 61-year-old, who took over the leadership of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and reigned as European Parliament president since 2012, actually stand for and what did he achieve during his time in the Belgian capital?
Budget dispute and Commission dreams
There is a certain irony that Schulz sought a third term as Parliament president before his decision to move into German politics was made, as time and time again during his Brussels stint he accused his native country of blocking the ongoing development of the EU.
Indeed, Schulz frequently complained that EU heads of state and government conducted themselves in their summits in a similar fashion to the much-criticised Congress of Vienna of 1814/1815.
The same energy he used to denounce the selfishness of the member states was also used in defence of the Brussels institutions, particularly the Parliament and the European Commission.
In 2013, he led the Parliament in a calculated confrontation against the member states over the terms of the EU’s 2014-2020 budget.
Ultimately, the Parliament agreed to a compromise in late 2013, but even Schulz’s efforts could not stop the budget falling victim to European austerity policy, as it became the first EU budget to decrease in size in comparison with its predecessor.
The next year, Schulz threw his hat into the ring for leadership of the Commission. The SPD man backed out of the race following the 2014 European elections, after verbal spats with his rival for the job at the time, current Commission President and close friend Jean-Claude Juncker.
In the end, it was the European Parliament and its representatives that had the last laugh, as it was they that ultimately decided who should be the next executive head. To what extent Schulz exercised influence over the choosing of Juncker as Commission president is still an open question.
Schulz: Blinkers off
Although Schulz consistently supported strengthening the European institutions during his time in Brussels, he cannot be accused of being a blinkered pro-Europe advocate.
The former mayor of the town of Würselen has never shied away from highlighting shortcomings in the EU machine. In a June interview with Der Tagesspiegel, he called into question whether it was indeed necessary for there to be 28 Commissioners.
Currently, each member state is represented in the EU executive division of portfolios. But Schulz pointed out that it is not practical as there are more Commissioners than fields of activity.
*Published in www.euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
