Euobserver.com

EU leaders have rolled over sanctions on Russia, while calling for justice on the MH17 air disaster, and for Russia to stop meddling in Ukraine.

EU visa bans and asset freezes in the air over Turkish gas drilling in Cypriot waters as Ankara sends a second ship into disputed zone.

A Polish judicial reform to lower the retirement age for judges is breaching EU laws, the European Court of Justice's advocate general said on Thursday. The law, introduced by Poland's conservative Law and Justice party in 2017, reduced retirement age for male judges from 67 to 65 and from 67 to 60 for female judges.

The Austrian province of Tyrol on Thursday restricted access to small roads used by drivers avoiding traffic and tolls on the highways. The ban will be applied on weekends during summer and comes despite the EU court ruling on Tuesday that a planned toll on German motorways for non-residents is illegal. Bavaria's transport minister Hans Reichhart (CSU) called on Brussels to "ensure free travel in Europe".

In the last decade, we have begun to witness a visible and organised backlash in gender equality and human rights across Europe.

EU leaders discussed the new leadership positions in secrecy, but no white smoke emerged from the meeting as no lead candidate secured a majority neither in parliament, nor among leaders.

Poland, with the support from the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Estonia, blocked a commitment to climate neutrality by 2050. It is now just a footnote in the summit conclusions.

Four human traffickers responsible for the deaths of 71 migrants in a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway in 2015 were jailed for life, AFP reported on Thursday. Prosecutors argued that the initial 25-year jail terms delivered last June were too lenient. The Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan victims were among the hundreds of thousands of desperate people fleeing war and poverty during the migrant crisis.

Michael Gove was knocked out of the Conservative party leadership race on Thursday, in the final round of voting by Tory MPs. That means either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will be the next party leader, replacing Theresa May as prime minister. Johnson got 162 votes, Hunt 77, Gove 75. Gove was the co-leader of the Leave campaign with Johnson. Party members will now vote, with a result next month.

EU leaders have extended economic sanctions on Russia until June 2020, they said Thursday. They are also planning to push for justice in the MH17 disaster and to urge Moscow to stop handing out passports in Russia-occupied Ukraine, draft summit conclusions seen by Reuters said. Leaders will urge Russia to "cooperate fully" with a Dutch investigation into the air disaster, which indicted three Russians, and threatened "non-recognition of Russian passports".

It's quicker to elect the pope than to agree on the new EU leadership, quipped the Irish prime minister at the start of the EU summit - which may end only with another summit soon to pick the top jobs.

EUobserver has appointed Koert Debeuf as its new interim editor-in-chief, starting 1 July. Debeuf is a former spokesman for the Belgian prime minister, an EUobserver blogger from Cairo, and worked in the European Parliament. He was also a contributing editor at the Daily Beast and a columnist in several European and Middle East newspapers.

The Council of the EU should publish not only a list of lobby meetings held by Donald Tusk, the European Council president, but also when his cabinet members meet lobbyists, the European Ombudsman said in a recommendation. NGO Corporate Europe Observatory, which had asked the ombudsman to investigate, said Tusk's successor should be more transparent. It had also complained the public agenda of Tusk was "not user-friendly".

EU Council president Donald Tusk toned down expectations at the start of the EU summit on whether leaders would be able to agree on the next EU leadership, including the commission presidency. "Yesterday I was cautiously optimistic. Today I'm more cautious than optimistic," Tusk tweeted after he held consultations with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel, who are split over who should lead the EU executive.

Federica Mogherini, the head of the EU's foreign policy branch the European External Action Service, said her future replacement will need to be someone who has a background in defence and security. She told reporters the person needs to come "with a strong foreign and security background." She had also mentioned defence.

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar warned on Thursday there was "enormous hostility" in the EU to any further Brexit extension beyond October, adding Ireland has "endless patience". EU leaders gathering in Brussels will take stock of the latest on Brexit developments on Friday. Varadkar also said it was unlikely EU leaders would agree on the new EU leadership on Thursday, and an extra summit will be needed.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that EU leaders' goal should be to agree on a commission president by the time the new parliament convenes in early July. "We need a joint solution, so it would be unacceptable to me for the European Council to make a recommendation that in the end isn't supported by the European Parliament," Merkel said, adding that a decision might not be made on Thursday.

French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called the so-called Spitzenkandidaten process, whereby the strongest party emerging from EU elections should get the commission presidency, a fiction. "There isn't a European democratic legitimacy so I think we need to escape from this trap," he was quoted by Bloomberg. Macron said leaders might not agree on a name on Thursday, but will have to decide before the new parliament convenes early July.

Leaders of the 28 EU national governments will discuss on Thursday afternoon by when Europe should be 'climate-neutral'. A draft text of the conclusions said the transition to an economy which has net zero greenhouse gas emissions should be done by 2050. Austria has suggested the more vague 'by mid-century', according to a text seen by EUobserver. Some of the poorer eastern EU countries are worried for their economies.

EU competition commissioner and the liberals' frontrunner for the commission presidency, Margrethe Vestager said Thursday she hoped that EU leaders will hear the calls from voters for something new at EU elections when they chose the new EU leadership in Brussels. She added that she was not confident that she will get the commission presidency, Bloomberg reported.