At a hearing on Wednesday, Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee puts Christine Lagarde, nominee for president of the European Central Bank, to the test ahead of a plenary vote on her candidacy later this month. The European Council appoints the ECB president while Parliament must be consulted.



Throughout the week, a number of parliamentary committees are set to discuss and vote on their input for the EU’s 2020 budget. Parliament as a whole votes on its budget position at next month’s plenary session in Strasbourg.



In a series of meetings from Monday to Wednesday, ministers of the Finnish presidency of the Council address Parliament’s committees on their priorities for the coming months. On Friday, Parliament President David Sassoli and the political group leaders meet the Finnish government in Helsinki to discuss the presidency priorities further.



The fight against drugs and terrorism is on the agenda of the civil liberties committee this week with MEPs set to discuss the activities of a number of EU agencies including Europol, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.



Following heavy storms and floods in Austria, Italy and Romania last year, the committee on budgets votes on Tuesday on funding of €293.5 million to support the affected regions.