Antonio Tajani, a 63 year old Italian conservative, has been elected as the new president of the European Parliament, taking over from Germany's Martin Schulz. Tajani is an ex-European Commissioner and was formerly a spokesperson for Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. Tajani secured 351 votes, against 282 for Gianni Pitella, an Italian socialist. Tajani's election puts the centre-right in charge of three primary EU institutions: the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament.
Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: AP/TASR
