Serious irregularities found to have been committed by former EP President Martin Schulz

On April 27, the European Parliament voted on the 2015 discharge reports. A large majority of the plenary backed the texts, already adopted by the Budgetary Control Committee. In the report, the committee responsible for overseeing the regular operation and financial management of the institutions of the European Union highlighted serious complaints about the former president of the EP.

The plenary vote affirmed these statements and complaints about the presidency of Martin Schulz. “We already knew of the irregularities committed by the former president of the EP during the 2014 EP election campaign, but as time goes by, new controversies surface from the last two years of his presidential mandate,” said Tamás Deutsch, EPP Group responsible for the report.

During the 2014 election campaign, Martin Schulz failed to cancel his Brussels per diem even at those times when he was only carrying out campaign activities. He took members of the presidential cabinet of the EP to different campaign events at the expense of the EU institutions. Disregarding the strict personnel rules of the EP, the former president also helped members of his cabinet obtain senior-level positions. Martin Schulz personally decided to provide special benefits to his colleagues at the expense of the EP budget, lacking any legal basis.

The report details serious irregularities that took place during the presidency of Martin Schulz and specifically identifies the former president by name, the Fidesz MEP responsible for financial discharge explained at the debate. Tamás Deutsch elaborated that mistakes and misuses should be identified even if the former president of the EP is responsible for them.

The discharge report, which was accepted by a large majority in the plenary voting, directly mentions decisions taken by Martin Schulz with debatable regularity during the period between October 21 and December 15, 2015 and calls on the EP’s Secretary General to review these. The former president of the EP is currently president of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the party’s chancellor candidate in the autumn elections.