Christine Lagarde was recommended for the post of ECB President on 4 September by Members of the European Parliament who had questioned her throughout the morning on her competences and plans. During a vote in the Economics and Monetary Affairs Committee, Ms Lagarde received 37 votes in favour of her taking up the position, 11 against and 4 MEPs abstained. A confirmation vote is expected to take place during the September plenary session from 16-19 September. Questions focused on whether the ECB should prioritise its secondary objectives and better integrate, as well as on the need to more effectively incorporate fighting climate change into the Bank’s mandate. MEPs also asked Ms Lagarde how negative effects stemming from the ECB’s quantitative easing programme, such as extremely low interest rates, could be mitigated. Lagarde agreed that it was time to review the ECB’s monetary framework to address new challenges such as non-bank lending, fintech, crypto currencies, and climate change. She stressed that she would champion climate change becoming a “core concern” for the ECB, given that it could pose “macro-critical risks”. Lagarde also said that while the ECB’s quantitative easing had indeed led to certain negative effects, its overall results were positive and that she saw such a “highly accommodative stance continuing for a long time”.