Italian socialist to head EU Parliament

Members of the European Parliament selected left-wing politician David-Maria Sassoli as president on Wednesday, making him the second Italian in a row to head the legislative body. Sassoli received 345 out of 667 votes, defeating his Conservative and Green party opponents. He belongs to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the major socialist progressive party in the European Union. The 63-year-old from Florence was a journalist before launching his political career and has served in the European Parliament, the only directly elected branch of the EU, for the past decade.

Sassoli succeeds Antonio Tajani, a member of the centrist EPP party. Presidents of the European Parliament serve 2½-year terms as speakers for the legislative body and oversee debate.

The next major decision for the European Parliament will be the approval of a new European Commission president, often seen as the executive head of the entire union. Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg will step down at the end of his five-year term in November, and the European Council nominated German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen to succeed him.