EU's Schulz steps down, fuelling German, EU reshuffles

By Alastair Macdonald and Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Parliament President Martin Schulz is returning to German politics, raising the prospect he may challenge Angela Merkel as chancellor and prompting speculation of a reshuffle in European Union institutions. Schulz, a Social Democrat, told a news conference he would not stand for re-election as speaker of the EU legislature and instead campaign for a parliamentary seat in Berlin next year. Schulz, 60, had been pushing for a third 30-month term as EU parliament president in defiance of a deal that he make way for a speaker from the center-right, the chamber's biggest group.

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