The Committee on Foreign Affairs is a committee privileged by the German constitution, as one of the four committees whose establishment each electoral term is prescribed by the Basic Law. As a classic political committee, it oversees the government’s foreign policy, above all in the run up to important decisions about foreign and security affairs. As a matter of principle, it works behind closed doors because the issues on which it deliberates are highly sensitive. For instance, its members take the lead role in deliberations on whether the German Federal Government should be allowed to deploy soldiers on missions abroad. There are 46 Members on the Committee.
