Only half of EU staff claim good knowledge of their workplace's ethics rules, while 82 percent of staff at the European Parliament have never attended any ethics trainings, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.

Countries who reject non-European migrants or raise concerns on rule of law, such as Poland, can expect sympathetic ear from Ursula von der Leyen, the new EU commission chief indicated.

The Dutch rule of law top man said the new commission would be just as tough on the issue as the current one, but would not say whether he wants to hold onto the portfolio in the next executive.

Britain's Brexit negotiators behaved "like idiots", a senior EU figure has said, amid both comical and "terrifying" scenes in London.

Securing a female German-elect president of the European Commission should have been a major political victory for Berlin. Wrong.

Warsaw and Budapest are boasting about their support for von der Leyen after the german is confirmed only by a small margin of MEPs, but the illiberals should not expect the softening of rule of law scrutiny.