What does a day in the life of Martin Schulz look like? Blink followed the President of the European Parliament around to find out.

Backstage: What's on your agenda, Mr President?

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The President isn't just anybody.  He's the head of the MEPs.

The President is appointed  among the MEPs,

who are elected by the European citizens.

In theory he has to remain  in office for five years.

But in practice he passes on the baton  after two and a half,

as the main political groups  traditionally share the power.

He leads the debates, oversees the votes  and gives the floor to MEPs.

Mr Barroso, I'm now giving the floor to  MEP Daul of the European People's Party.

In short, he's the one that leads  their sessions. Not everybody can do that!

you do need a strategy  to balance interests

because you can never force it.  You need to negotiate.

Martin Schulz probably learnt this  in his home village of Würselen

in Germany,  at the crossroads of three countries.

The Netherlands is here,  Belgium's over there.

So I just went from the Netherlands  to Belgium,

Martin Schulz knows how to cross borders.

The German is happy  to sing the Marseillaise

The President's role isn't restricted  to the plenary sessions.

He's the one who welcomes heads  of state and VIPs visiting Parliament.

And I can tell you  that his agenda is overloaded.

..many meetings.  -Quarter of an hour late!

The President also chairs  most of the Parliament's big events,

such as awarding the Sakharov Prize  for Freedom of Thought

But that's not all,  right Herr Präsident?

The President of the European Parliament  coordinates all the Parliament's activities

and represents it before  the other institutions and governments.

He also signs all the Parliament's  official decisions.

In short, a day in the life of a president  isn't a walk in the park.

Being a president is a hard job, and having  power always means responsibility too.

Responsibilities that go beyond the walls  of the Parliament,

such as going on mission abroad.  He represents the MEPs.

He also represents the Parliament before  the EU and its two other institutions,

the European Commission and the Council.

The President of the European Parliament  gives an opening speech

on agenda items  at European Council meetings.

So I go there to explain its position on the  items the heads of government negotiate.

After that he's no longer given the floor,  it's in the hands of the heads of state.

But the Parliament has  more and more power,

and its President  more and more responsibilities.

Uff, no time to breathe  when you're a president.

Martin Schulz can no longer  play football, his favourite sport.

But for a week every month  he can go home

to visit his town hall, meet his electorate  or pass by his bookshop.

But now we'll leave him alone  so he can switch off for a bit.