MARTIN SCHULZ RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE EP

The European Parliament has re-elected Martin Schulz for a second presidential term (two and a half year) with 409 votes from the 751 MEPs. (54.4%).

Back in 2012 he was elected with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast (57.8%)

From humble beginnings as a bookseller who left school without any qualifications, Schulz was born in Hehlrath, near the German city of Aachen, in 1955. Growing up close to the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, he speaks German, Dutch and French fluently (as well as English, Italian and Spanish).

He joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany at 19, and  was  active as a local Young Socialist chairman. However, his political career really took off in 1987 when he was elected Mayor of Würselen at 31 (the youngest ever mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia). He later ran for the European Parliament and was elected in 1994, rising quickly through the ranks. He became head of the German group of Social Democrats MEPs in 2000, and by 2009 was Chairman of the Social Democrats group in the European Parliament. In 2012, he was elected by MEPs as the President of the European Parliament.