Martin Schulz's Outrageous Power Grab. Can He Be Stopped Today?

The opening of the plenary session of the EP in Strasbourg today will be crucial for German Socialist President (Speaker) of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

It would seem that there are no limits to his megalomaniacal ambitions. Brussels insiders are aghast at the audacious attempts by Schulz to parachute his political advisers into key positions in the, supposedly apolitical, European Parliament administration before his two-and-a-half-year mandate comes to an end this June. Former EP Presidents have usually managed to get promotions agreed for one or two of their top advisers, but the scale of the Schulz power grab is unprecedented.

If all goes according to his brazen plan, the Parliament’s appointing authority for senior positions (the Bureau) will today, at its final meeting before the European elections, confirm the appointments of no less than six of Schulz’s political advisers to be either Directors General (the top layer of EU management) or Directors (the next layer down).

The expected appointments are: