Plans to grant citizens of Kosovo and Georgia the right to travel to the Schengen area without a visa were backed by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Monday.

Former commissioners Janez Potočnik and Antonio Tajani are questioned this week by a parliamentary inquiry committee looking into car emissions testing. In addition MEPs discuss the future of EU financing with members of national parliaments. Political groups also prepare for next week's plenary session, including the annual state of the EU debate with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission.

Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Committee rejected as “misleading” and flawed, proposals aimed at providing greater protection to consumers buying packaged financial products, and unanimously voted to send the proposals back to the European Commission for revision.

On 31 August, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Neris Germanas received the new Ambassador of Estonia to Lithuania Jana Vanaveski. The meeting focused on important political life events in the two countries – Estonia’s next presidential election and the future parliamentary election in Lithuania. The officials noted that there was a new challenge ahead for Estonia, which at the moment held the Council of Europe Chairmanship, namely the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Moreover, Estonia will chair the Baltic Council of Ministers in 2017.

In the ongoing informal OSCE Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 1 September in Potsdam, Germany, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius drew attention to the lack of progress in finding a solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and called for maintaining the issue as a priority item on the OSCE’s political agenda.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė accepted letters of credence from Ambassador Jana Vanaveski of Estonia.

The EU's budget for next year will be decided over the coming months. Starting this week parliamentary committees adopt their opinion on the budget, while the budgets committee discusses the Council's position on Wednesday 31 August. The committee will then draft a recommendation to MEPs, which will be put to a plenary vote at the end of October. Check out our infographic for all the steps of the budgetary procedure.

At the high-level meeting on energy security on 28 August in Stavanger, Norway, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius presented Lithuania’s achievements in ensuring energy independence to leaders of energy companies around the world and drew their attention to the remaining challenges.

Parliamentary committees deal with anything from relations with Turkey to migration and car emissions this week. Parliament President Martin Schulz is due to visit Ankara, while MEPs discuss the EU-Canada trade agreement. In addition former commissioner Günter Verheugen answers questions from the Parliament's inquiry committee investigating car emission tests.