MEPs in Strasbourg today have approved the appointment of Sabine Lautenschläger to the European Central Bank's (ECB) executive board, who will replace fellow German Jörg Asmussen.

The report approving Ms Lautenschläger's appointment, authored by Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles, was passed with an overwhelming majority with 443 MEPs in favour and just 47 against.

On Sunday the Basel Committee's Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, chaired by President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, updated their proposals on leverage and within that made some improvements to the treatment of 'trade finance'.

Sharon Bowles MEP, Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has had a long running battle with Basel over their harsh treatment of trade finance. She is not alone, with help from her committee she pushed through better terms in the EU's Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). These better terms have been welcomed by the World Bank and IMF.

Monday

Sharon travelled to Brussels for the start of group week in the Parliament.

At 3pm Sharon chaired an Economic and monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee meeting where a monetary dialogue took place with Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank.

At 7pm Sharon spoke at a dinner for the British Chamber of Commerce on 'Changing tides - what to expect from the European Parliament in 2014'.

Monday

Sharon travelled to Strasbourg for the start of the Parliament's plenary week.

At 5pm Sharon attended a meeting on Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD).

Then at 7.30pm Sharon chaired an Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee Meeting (ECON).

Tuesday

At 9am Sharon attended a co-ordinators meeting where an exchange of views took place with Andrea Enria, Chairman of the European Banking Authority.

Excessive surcharges on card payments and pre-ticked boxes on websites are to be banned following the coming into force of new EU consumer rights legislation today. Under the new rules, which must be fully implemented by 13th June 2014, retailers across the EU will also have to give clearer price information and provide shoppers with longer cooling-off periods to cancel orders and return goods.

Last night the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted for far-reaching proposals to make large EU firms more transparent in how they pay tax around the globe.

Sharon Bowles MEP, who chairs the Committee, drafted the report on non-financial disclosure and has been fighting to extend corporate transparency for all large European companies - known as country-by-country reporting - since 2009.

Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles today warned of dramatic job losses in the financial sector if the UK were to leave the EU, afterco-CEO of Goldman Sachs Michael Sherwoodsaid his company would be likely to 'drastically reduce' its activities in London in case of an EU exit.

Speaking to German newspaper Frankfurte Allgemeine Zeitung, Mr Sherwood warned:

The Government will today unveil its National Infrastructure Plan (NIP), which includes an estimated £375 billion of investment in transport, energy, communications, and water projects, as well as the selling off of its 40% stake in Eurostar.

In concert with the Government's announcement the insurance industry is today unveiling plans for £25bn of investment in UK infrastructure projects.

The Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Sharon Bowles MEP, has today pledged to support EU plans to close a loophole which has allowed large corporations to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Amendments to the EU's corporate tax legislation, proposed by Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, will introduce an anti-abuse clause which will prevent companies including Google, Amazon, Starbucks and Apple from stockpiling their profits in countries with lower tax rates.