S.L. const.2 Art. 120FThe Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs.

(1) The Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs shall consist of not more than nine members of whom five shall constitute a quorum. The members shall be chosen so as fairly to represent the House in general and the proportion of Government and Opposition members in particular:

Provided that the Government members appointed on the standing committee shall include the Minister for Foreign Affairs who shall have the right to participate and to vote: Provided further that members of the European Parliament elected from Malta shall have the right to participate in the work of the standing committee but shall not have the right to vote or to move motions and amendments.

(2) The Chairperson of the standing committee shall be nominated by the Leader of the House from amongst the members representing the Government side, provided that any member of the committee may, at any time, be appointed by the Leader of the House to act as Chairperson in case of the unavoidable absence of the Chairperson.

(3) The standing committee shall have the power to appoint select sub-committees and to delegate any of its functions to such sub-committees: Provided that the composition of any sub-committee appointed by the standing committee shall be determined by the standing committee so as fairly to represent the House in general and the proportion of Government and Opposition members in particular.

(4) Subject to what is stated in this standing order, the provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of standing order 120B shall apply to the Standing Committee on Foreign and mutatis mutandis European Affairs.

(5) The Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs shall have the following functions:

(i) to deal with matters relating to foreign and European Union affairs which may be referred to it by the House or by the Standing Committee on House Business;

(ii) in the context of European Union issues and measures to be taken by the Council of Ministers of the European Union, to scrutinise on its own initiative -

(a) any proposals under the Community treaties for legislation by the Council or the Council acting jointly with the European Parliament;

(b) any document which is published for submission to the European Council, the Council or the European Central Bank;

(c) any proposal for a common strategy, a joint action or a common position under Title V of the Treaty on European Union which is prepared for submission to the Council or to the European Council;

(d) any proposal for a common position, framework decision or a convention under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union which is prepared for submission to the Council;

(e) any document (not falling within sub-paragraphs (b), (c) or (d) above) which is published by one Union institution and which does not relate exclusively to the consideration of any proposal for legislation;

(f) any other document relating to European Union matters placed on the Table of the House by any Minister;

(iii) to represent the House of Representatives of Malta at the Conference of European Affairs Committees (COSAC).