Depends on successor. Schulz as experienced leader in Europe would do a far better job than Merkel.
Yeah, I wanted to say; at the moment, Merkel's most serious challengers are those who are more pro-European project than she is. It would be her successor.
It could be, but he would have to earn the respect and authority. For thee immediate future it would be the Pope, I think.
In most cases I would agree, but Schulz are rather unusual, he's MEP who is pretty well known and respected outside his homeland (usual MEP who are well known are more infamous than famous). He have succeed in translating his position in EU parliament to real power, which are also rare, where the politicians usual running the show (the head of the member states) have had to take him serious. So he's a well known actor among the European political establishment, which means that the other PMs/presidents already know how to fit him into their network of interests.
