Brexit no-deal and chief prosecutor top This WEEK

EU leaders will now gather in Brussels on 10 April for an emergency summit, called by Council president Donald Tusk.

As the Irish border remains a key Brexit issue, Irish PM Leo Varadkar will travel to Paris on Tuesday (2 April) to meet with president Emmanuel Macron, and on Thursday (4 April), German chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Dublin for talks.

EU member states are worried that the integrity of the single market could be compromised at a new EU external border on the island of Ireland in the case of a no-deal.

The European Parliament's committee on foreign affairs will hear from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Tuesday (2 April).

Later in the day, the parliament's constitutional affairs committee will discuss Brexit with a member of the Brexit steering group, MEP Danuta Huber.

The EP's plenary is set to debate Brexit the day after in Brussels.

Other business

MEPs will later, still on Wednesday (3 April), will hear from Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven on the future of Europe. Lofven recently secured his position as premier after elections last year.

European lawmakers will also adopt on Thursday (4 April) new legislation on the EU gas market to ensure that the same rules will apply both to gas pipelines inside the EU and to those coming into the EU from non-EU countries.

On Thursday, MEPs will vote on a new tool to make sure EU countries safeguard the rule of law and the EU budget.

The so-called "conditionality" tool could mean that governments interfering with courts or failing to tackle fraud and corruption risk having their EU funds suspended.

Conditionality is a hot topic among member states, with several countries, such as Hungary and Poland, opposing it in long-term EU budget negotiations.

On Thursday, lawmakers will also vote on a proposal to limit member states' ability to introduce temporary border controls within the Schengen area to a maximum period of one year, instead of two.

MEPs will also discuss on Wednesday trade relations with China on Thursday ahead of the EU-China summit on 9 April.

The European Parliament's agriculture committee is voting this week on how the new Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) of 2021-2027 should look.

The agriculture MEPs will have to go through more than 2,000 amendments.

The committee has scheduled two hours of voting on Monday, 3.5 hours on Tuesday (2 April) morning and another four hours on Tuesday afternoon.

Kovesi row

The negotiations will also continue on Thursday between EU ambassadors and parliament negotiators over who to appoint as the EU's first public prosecutor.

EU member states backed a French candidate, while two parliamentary committees supported the bid of former Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi.

Romania's ruling Social democratic government, which now runs the EU presidency, had campaigned against Kovesi after forcing her out form the anti-graft position.

Under the government's latest effort to stop Kovesi's appointment, a Romanian agency tasked with investigating magistrates filed criminal charges against Kovesi, who has denied wrongdoing, and banned her from leaving the country for two months.

The EU commission said Romania was backsliding on respecting the rule of law and called on Bucharest to treat Kovesi fairly.