Euobserver.com

A provisional agreement outlining the distribution of committees between political groups has been leaked to EUobserver. It showed the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group would 'get' the legal affairs committee and the agriculture committee.

The 'top job' debate returns on Sunday with a special EU summit, followed by the first session of the new European Parliament. If leaders fail to solve the 'jobs puzzle', MEPs may feel force to choose their parliament president unilaterally.

The leadership of the Greens have asked European Parliament president Antonio Tajani to "revoke access badges to Saudi officials and to public relations companies or other entities working for or on the behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

The Nordic country sees the rule of law as an existential guarantee in a rule-based international order, and wants to tackle the concerns raised in several member states during its EU presidency.

The EU will continue to defend liberal values, it pledged at the "G20" summit of wealthy nations in Japan - after Russia said liberalism was dying.

The Greek conservative New Democracy (ND) party is poised for a come back to power after four years in opposition. Just over a week before snap general elections on 7 July, the party, at 36 percent, is nine points ahead of leftist governing Syriza (27 percent), a survey by Pulse-Skai found. If elected prime minister, ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis would strengthen the EPP in talks on future EU top-posts.

Ireland's parliament passed Thursday a motion allowing troops from the neutral country to join EU defence forces in a German-led battle group with Austrian, Czech, Croatian and Dutch personal next year. Sinn Fein's Aengus O'Snodaigh opposed the motion, saying that "battle groups are not peacekeepers. The words 'battle groups' mean that they are trained to go into battle". No EU battle group has yet been in action.

US carmaker Ford plans to reduce the number of factories in Europe from 24 to 18 and to cut 12,000 jobs, the company said Thursday. The plan includes closure or sale of six assembly and component manufacturing plants by the end of next year. "Our future is rooted in electrification," said Stuart Rowley, president of Ford Europe. A future family of battery electric vehicles would be assembled in Europe.

Swiss stocks could be delisted from trading in the European Union by Monday (1 July) after talks on a political agreement between the two sides ended in deadlock. Switzerland and the EU have been trying in vain for years to merge their existing 120 bilateral treaties into a single agreement. Switzerland twice received an extension to agree to Brussels' demands, the latest expiring on Sunday (30 June).

German MEP and member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Markus Ferber, warns of four separate threats from Facebook's Libra. A good moment to kick off the debate would be this week's G20 summit.

The top British civil servant in charge of no-deal Brexit planning has quit, the Guardian revealed on Thursday. Tom Shinner was director of policy and delivery coordination at the Department for Exiting the EU. The likelihood of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October has increased significantly, with both candidates to replace Theresa May as prime minister, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, refusing to rule it out.

Tobacco company British American Tobacco sponsored the popular Playbook newsletter this week - saying it is not against the law because the advertisements were not about specific products. Now the Belgian authorities are preparing to investigate.

For Russia, the Council of Europe's surrender to its demands is a huge foreign policy success. For the council, it is a disaster.

Under Manfred Weber's leadership, the European People's Party in February forced through a secret ballot trying to derail more transparency at the European Parliament. Now, Weber is wondering why people perceive the EU as a black box.

The Finnish presidency will draw up scenarios on hybrid attacks, for EU home affairs and finance ministers to practice decision-making when facing acute threats.

For many years the European Parliament was the place for ministers stepping down and about to leave politics, but on Thursday Social Democrat MEP, Jeppe Kofod, reversed the trend and was appointed new foreign minister in Denmark. Another long-serving Danish Social Democrat, Dan Jorgensen, was appointed minister for climate and energy.

US president Donald Trump has accused EU anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager of "hating" the US after she opened a case against another American tech giant.

Taking over the EU's presidency in July, Finland wants to get the remaining EU member states to agree on the 2050 climate neutrality target by the end of the year.

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to become the next UK prime minister, said the odds of no-deal Brexit are "a million-to-one against". Johnson has in the past promised to take the UK out of the EU without a deal. "But I don't think that is where we are going to end up – I think it is a million-to-one against – but it is vital that we prepare," he said.

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar on Wednesday dismissed any notion that he may want to become the next president of the European Commission. "I have no plans for a career change at this stage," Varadkar told reporters, when pressed. Leaders from across the 28 EU states are meeting for a summit in Brussels on Sunday to nominate someone to replace commission president incumbent Jean-Claude Juncker.