The Committee on European Union Affairs is the central forum for the German Bundestag's participation in European matters. The committee’s existence is enshrined in the German constitution, the Basic Law. As a cross-sectoral yet specialised committee it deals amongst other things with all fundamental questions of European integration, institutional topics, strategy documents, the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework, and enlargement issues. It also has special powers and can, under certain circumstances, exercise the rights of the plenary. With 41 members and an equal number of substitutes, it is one of the Bundestag’s largest committees, and is chaired by Dr Anton Hofreiter (Alliance 90/The Greens). The Committee cultivates close ties to the European institutions and the European affairs committees of other national parliaments within the EU.
