During a vote on the budget discharge of the European Parliament, members of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany party (CDU) have voted on a series of amendments attempting to attack SPD candidate Martin Schulz for decisions taken during his time as European Parliament president.

Reacting to the vote, S&D Group president Gianni Pittella said:

“Martin Schulz's tenure as Parliament president has been examined fully. The administration of the Parliament has confirmed that all the decisions taken by Schulz were fully in line with the Parliament’s rules. The European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF has also confirmed there is nothing to be investigated. The chair of the committee on budget control, CDU member Ingeborg Gräßle, has made a mockery of the whole discharge process. This is meant to be an impartial auditing exercise and her attempt to use it for national political point scoring cheapens our institution.

“Yesterday, we had to watch the love-in between Manfred Weber and Viktor Orbán. Today, we see EPP members voting alongside the right-wing extremists of the ENF to try to score cheap political points.”

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