As the federal states traditionally appoint the heads of government at state level to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, it is also described as a "political committee". A further particularity is that the committee does not have a regular schedule for meetings but only meets when there are important grounds to convene a meeting. The committee generally uses written procedure to deal with its routine work, for example the ratification of international treaties as stipulated in Article 59, Sub-section 2, Basic Law.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Ausschuss für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten
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The Committee on Foreign Affairs deals with relations with foreign states, which are conducted by the Federation pursuant to Article 32, Sub-section 1, Basic Law. The issues considered by the committee thus broadly correspond to those examined by the Federal Foreign Office - with the exception of policy on the European Union, as the Committee on European Union questions was set up in the Bundesrat specifically to address EU policy matters.