Germany's Martin Schulz becomes new European Parliament leader

Jan 17, 2012, 10:54 GMT

Strasbourg - The European Union's legislature on Tuesday elected German Socialist Martin Schulz as its new president, as part of a routine deal between the European Parliament's two largest political groups to share its top post.

Schulz replaces former Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek of the European People's Party - the group with the most EU lawmakers - who led the legislature for the first two-and-a-half years of its 2009-14 term. Schulz will lead the assembly until the next election in 2014.

'I will not be a convenient president,' the 56-year-old Schulz, known for his fiery rhetoric, told his fellow lawmakers, pledging to win the 'respect' of the EU's executive branch.

He has already said that he will fight to have a seat at the table when eurozone leaders debate their response to the debt crisis that has forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts and weakened trust in the single currency area.

'I will try to reawaken enthusiasm for Europe,' Schulz said.

Once a bookstore owner in Wuerselen - the German town he also led as mayor for 11 years - Schulz was elected to the European Parliament in 1994 and has led its Socialists and Democrats group since 2004.

He gained prominence in 2003, after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi controversially likened him to a Nazi concentration camp guard during a debate in the legislature.

Schulz snagged 387 votes from the 699 lawmakers present Tuesday morning at the parliament's plenary in Strasbourg, France.

Also in the running for the top post were two candidates from smaller political groups in the EU legislature - Diana Wallis of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, and Nirj Deva of the European Conservatives and Reformists.