Martin Schulz, the newly elected President of the European Parliament, was strongly marked by his home region where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet.

Close to you: Presidential home town

It's almost embarrassing for Martin Schulz  to lead journalists and a camera crew

through the main square  of the small town of Würselen

where his political career began  in the mid 1980s.

But I was the longest serving mayor  of this town.

A visit to the bookshop which the Social  Democrat Schulz founded at the age of 27,

five years before becoming the youngest  mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Naturally, many of my friends  were meeting here.

As a councillor,  and later as the mayor of this town,

I had a room at the back of the bookshop

that was used as my office  and as a kitchenette.

There I met with the mayor,  the party whip and the local MP.

We used to coordinate  our workload amongst us.

Those who weren't there  called it the 'kitchen cabinet'.

What reading tips does the former  bookseller, current EP President have

Habermas. The last publication  by Jürgen Habermas

is an impassioned plea  to intellectuals in Germany,

as well as in other EU countries,  to not shy away from a joint Europe,

but to understand that within  the global village that we all inhabit,

retreating to small state thinking  would be the wrong way forward.

Europe has to understand  that unity brings strength.

The idea should be more prominent here  than elsewhere in Europe.

Both Belgium and the Netherlands  are only a few kilometres away.

From his office, the EP President  can see the border triangle in the distance.

This is the Netherlands,  that's Belgium there.

So I just went  from the Netherlands to Belgium,

has to be one of the most European areas  in the whole of the European Union.

Of course, growing up near a border  has shaped my life to a great extent.

Even as a local politician I was  deeply involved in cross-border cooperation

with the communities on the Belgian  and Dutch sides of the border.

There's no doubt that  anyone who grows up in this region

grows up with a sense of these borders  and how to overcome them.

overcoming borders  remains a political mission.

What the borders meant to the generations  of my parents and theirs before them,

which is that hostile nations  once clashed in this place,

is still very much alive  in people's memories.

if the EU fell apart,  it would be disastrous.

Schulz excelled as a defender  for Rhenania Würselen.

He dreamt of a career  in professional football, but then:

I was jumping for a ball  when I heard a bang.

Then I realised that bang  was something to do with me,

But the young Martin Schulz still learnt  one or two lessons on the football pitch.

To achieve something,  you have to make an effort.

And you had better say out loud what needs  to be said, even if it causes controversy.

A major criticism of modern democracy  and parties coming from the voters is:

'No one can tell you apart,  you're all saying the same things.'

But if you have someone,  and I'm trying to be that someone,

who talks in a way that sets them apart,  who's not beating about the bush,

then this may cause disagreement,  but that's what's needed in a democracy.

I will definitely not change in this respect

and I will keep on trying to honour the words  of one of my great role models,