Pressures on women to avoid terminating unwanted pregnancies have been growing in countries including Croatia, Poland and Romania.

Boris Johnson is almost certain to become the UK's next prime minister, and oversee Brexit until the 31 October deadline, as work in the EU bubble is winding down for the summer.

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.