The European Parliament’s travelling circus is on the road again for the first time since May’s EU election.<br /><br />MEPs have decamped to Strasbourg, France for another plenary session that runs until Thursday.<br /><br />The whole to’ing and fro’ing between Brussels and the French city costs an estimated 180 million euros.<br /><br />Once, lawmakers have unpacked their suitcases, their first task will be to pick a new parliament president.<br /><br />The last person to hold the job on a permanent basis was Martin Schulz.<br /><br />He stood down just before the end of his two and a half year term in the middle of June this year.<br /><br />The German MEP is now favourite to return to the post.<br /><br />Agreements between the two largest parties, the centre-right European People’s Party and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, have seen the position shared between them in the past.<br /><br />But now former Luxembourg prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, a Christian democrat, has been designated as the president of the European Commission by EU leaders.<br /><br />In return for their support for Juncker, centre-left lawmakers demanded that one of their own take on the parliament presidency.
