Martin Schulz

Martin Schulz
Schulz in 2017
Chair of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 December 2020
Deputy	Daniela Kolbe Michael Sommer
Preceded by	Kurt Beck
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 19 March 2017 – 13 February 2018
General Secretary	Hubertus Heil Lars Klingbeil
Deputy	Ralf Stegner Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel Olaf Scholz Manuela Schwesig Natascha Kohnen Malu Dreyer
Preceded by	Sigmar Gabriel
Succeeded by	Andrea Nahles
President of the European Parliament
In office 17 January 2012 – 17 January 2017
Vice President	Gianni Pittella Antonio Tajani
Preceded by	Jerzy Buzek
Succeeded by	Antonio Tajani
Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Acting 18 June 2014 – 1 July 2014
Preceded by	Hannes Swoboda
Succeeded by	Gianni Pittella
In office 15 July 2004 – 17 January 2012
Preceded by	Enrique Barón Crespo
Succeeded by	Hannes Swoboda
Mayor of Würselen
In office 1987–1998
Preceded by	Bernd Thielen
Succeeded by	Wolfgang Peltzer
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia In office 24 October 2017 – 26 October 2021 Preceded by Peer Steinbrück (2016) Succeeded by Multi-member district Electoral list Social Democratic Party Member of the European Parliament for Germany In office 19 July 1994 – 19 February 2017 Preceded by Multi-member district Succeeded by Arndt Kohn
Personal details
Born	(1955-12-20) 20 December 1955 (age 68) Kinzweiler-Hehlrath, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Eschweiler-Hehlrath, Germany)
Political party	Social Democratic Party (1975–present)
Spouse	Inge Schulz ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	2
Residence(s)	Würselen, Germany
Signature
Website	Official Website

Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955)^[1] is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure he was Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2004 to 2012, President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017 and Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018.^[2]

In November 2016, Schulz announced he would not seek a third term as President of the European Parliament, but instead would stand in 2017 as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship. In January 2017, Sigmar Gabriel announced he would not stand for re-election as party leader and as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship, Gabriel recommended Schulz as his replacement.^[3]

After the elections of September 2017, which resulted in a postwar low for the SPD, Schulz declared the end of the existing Grand coalition under Angela Merkel and explicitly refused to serve in a Merkel government. On 7 February 2018, coalition talks concluded and Schulz announced he would succeed Sigmar Gabriel as Foreign minister and leave his party chairmanship to Andrea Nahles. After heavy public and internal criticism, Schulz decided not to enter the new cabinet. On 13 February 2018 Schulz stepped down as party chair.