The European Parliament is electing its new President, as the current head of the body, Martin Schulz stepped down to compete for the leadership of the socialist party in Germany. The two major contenders in the EP elections are Antonio Tajani of the EPP, who was an MEP for 14 years before becoming European Commissioner in 2008. His main opponent is another Italian politician, Gianni Pittella, who is the head of the S&D group in the EP. He has been an MEP since 1999. The third candidate is Guy Verhofstadt from the Liberals group, but is not expected to be a strong contender in the process. According to Reuters, if the conservative Tajani has hopes of clinching victory he must receive the votes of far-right MEPs or those of British UKIP’s Eurosceptics. The European Parliament President presides over all of the body’s works, while he also represents the EP in all legal matters and foreign relations. Proceedings started with the candidates’ opening statements and their plan for the EP. The President also signs the EU’s budget into law and co-signs the legislation with European Council President.