Euobserver.com

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has mocked EU foreign policy as being little more than verbal posturing. "If you want to express regret and issue a statement, you can do it now", he said Wednesday, after Iran announced it would violate an EU-backed nuclear arms control deal. Iran acted after the US first scrapped the accord and EU firms bowed to American pressure on reimposing Iran sanctions.

Former British finance minister George Osborne has been "telling friends" he wants to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Times reports. Osborne, now a newspaper editor, made known his ambitions after the current IMF head, France's Christine Lagarde, left to chair the European Central Bank. The IMF post needed a "skilled political communicator and operator ... not a technocrat", Osborne reportedly said.

The EU's new foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, is expected to be tough on Israel, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. "It won't be a piece of cake with him," the unnamed official said. "Ideologically, we know exactly where he comes from," the official added, citing Borrell's record of criticising Israeli violence against Palestinians. Borrell worked on a kibbutz when young, but later "became very critical," the official said.

The European Commission on Wednesday said it would not press for sanctions over Italy's high debt following new commitments from Rome to lower spending. "On the basis of these commitments, the commission has concluded that a debt-based excessive deficit procedure for Italy is no longer warranted at this stage," said economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici. Italy's debt is the second-highest in the eurozone.

Italy's birthrate in 2018 dropped to a historic low, according to figures released Wednesday by the country's national statistics office Istat. It said births dropped by some 18,000 to 440,000 last year, the lowest level since the unification of Italy in 1861. Deaths totaled 633,000. Total population has been dropping four years in a row and last year fell by 124,000 to 60.36 million.

Ola Al-Qaradawi, a Qatari national, was on Wednesday given a conditional release from a prison in Cairo after having spent two years in solitary confinement. She remains detained. Although not charged with any crime, her jailing may be linked to her father, an outspoken critic of the Egyptian regime. "We are speculating that it has to do with the diplomatic crisis regarding Qatar," her son told EUobserver, last year.

The French president has repeatedly said an EU border tax on carbon emissions is 'crucial'. However, his civil servants have yet to send Brussels a single proposal on how such a levy would work.

The decision on the top jobs shed light on key developments in the EU: the changing of the centre-right guard, the failure of the spitzen-system, Germany's confidence, Macron's political success, and the illiberal problem.

Polish government punishing judges and prosecutors who stand in its way with disciplinary action and smear campaigns, Amnesty International has said.

Some 40 died following an attack at a Libyan prison, where people hoping to reach Europe are locked up. The EU commission wants an investigation but remains silent on how it trains Libyans to return rescued migrants to the country.

Ursula von der Leyen immediately visited the European Parliament on Wednesday in order to gather support for her nomination to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as EU Commission president. The Greens will now be key for her to secure the job.

One day after being nominated as the new European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen visited the European Parliament on Wednesday in order to gather support from the political groups in order to get elected. It was her own political group, the European People's Party, that invited her. Talks with other political groups were also expected but no concrete schedule revealed.

The 63-year-old centre-left Italian MEP was elected president of the European Parliament, with 345 votes. A former journalist, Sassoli has experience as a vice-president of the parliament, but is little known.

Italian socialist, David Sassoli, was Wednesday elected president of the European Parliament for two and a half years, replacing another Italian, Antonio Tajani. In a second ballot, Sassoli, secured 345 votes, with 334 needed to win it. The national-conservative's Jan Zahradil, got 160 votes, Green Ska Keller got 119 votes and the leftist candidate, Sira Rego, 43 votes. A total of 667 votes were cast, 37 of which were blank.

Italian Socialists & Democrats MEP David Sassoli came seven votes short in the first round of voting for president of the European Parliament. He received 325 votes, while 332 were needed. Czech conservative Jan Zahradil came second, with 162 votes, followed by German Green Ska Keller (133), and far-left Spanish Sira Rego (42). All candidates proceeded to the second round of voting, which will start at 11:40AM.

Well beyond the situation in Italy with the arrest of the Sea Watch 3 captain, the criminalisation of solidarity has spread across Europe and entrapped both NGOs and ordinary citizens, including lifeguards, fire-fighters, doctors, priests, journalists, teachers and volunteers.

The EU's top banks ought to keep more money in reserve, making them less profitable, in order to prevent another 2008-type crisis, Europe's banking supervisor has said.

Four MEPs have put their names forward to become president of the European Parliament: centre-left Italian David Sassoli; Green German Ska Keller; conservative Czech Jan Zahradil; and far-left Spanish Sira Rego. Leaders of the EU's national governments agreed on Tuesday that the post of parliament president should go to the Socialists & Democrats, i.e. Sassoli. Voting will begin Wednesday morning after statements from each of the candidates.

Brexit Party MEP Nigel Farage earns at least €30,000 a month from his media company, The Guardian reported. The European Parliament requires that each member declares all income on top of the parliamentary salary. Farage's declaration from 1 July shows his earnings from the media company Thorn in the Side, where he is the only director. Last year Farage clashed with the parliament after he failed to declare financial gifts.

The European Parliament on Tuesday lost a years-long power struggle, and gave up winning more influence on European politics via the so-called Spitzenkandidat process it had championed.