elected to the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 15 October 2002, she got involved in the Committee for European Integration, which she directed. After that she took part in the Joint Parliamentary Committee between the European Parliament and the Slovakian one. She was observer at the European Parliament from 2003 to 2004. The European Parliament In the European Parliament Elections of 2004, she became a member of the European Parliament. She was re-elected in the European Parliament Elections of 2009, receiving the most personal preference votes of any candidate in Slovakia. In the European Parliament, she was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the vice-chairwoman of the Delegation for Relations with Israel. Ranked as one of the most active members of parliament, Flašíková-Beňová asked 19 written questions in 2014. Almost all of those questions were delivered on February 12 and covered a wide range of topics, including the bee shortage in the EU, the origin of meat in the EU, demonstrations in Egypt, changes to the law on Ukraine, new rules for tobacco products, energy poverty and rising electricity bills. As for parliamentary speeches, Flašíková-Beňová mostly submits them in written form. Most recently she spoke, for instance, on the sound level of motor vehicles, rice imports from Bangladesh, in-vitro diagnostic medical devices, imports of timber and on vulnerable groups in Syria. During the 2009-2014 term, Flašíková-Beňová delivered one report as a rapporteur, on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (2010–2011), in November 2012. She was re-elected to a third consecutive term in the 2014 European election. Following the 2019 elections, Beňová became a quaestor of the European Parliament. Her role as quaestor made her part of the Parliament’s leadership under Presidents David Sassoli (2019–2022) and Roberta Metsola (since 2022). Bid for mayorship of Bratislava In 2006 Beňová was Smer-SD's official candidate for the mayorship of Bratislava, but eventually lost out to the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) candidate Andrej Ďurkovský. In April 2013 she was nominated as the official candidate to run for the governorship of Bratislava Region. Prime Minister and Smer-SD chairman Robert Fico opined that Flašíková-Beňová would win, calling her a strong personality that would turn Bratislava Region upside down. In the end, Pavol Frešo, backed by Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), Most-Híd, Party of Hungarian Community (SMK), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), Civic Conservative Party (OKS)