| Type of parliamentary body |
Multifunctional |
| Nature |
Permanent |
| Related to chambers |
Chambre des Députés
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| Date of creation |
August 2004 |
| Last renewal date |
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| Mandate |
The Committee has the same powers as other parliamentary standing committees.
Article 21 (1) of the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies provides that: "Committees are responsible for examining bills, amendments and motions referred to them by the President of the Chamber, in the order indicated by the Chamber. They have the power to present proposals and amendments on their own initiative. Their mission also includes the preparation of deliberations, the organization of public and non-public hearings and field visits, and any other activity within their respective purviews, subject to clearance by the President of the Chamber, the Officers, or the Conference of Committee Chairs, which establishes the general principles in this regard. In addition, draft national regulations for which concurrence from the Conference of Committee Chairs is legally required can be referred by the Conference of Committee Chairs for an opinion from the relevant Chamber committee. The Conference of Committee Chairs establishes a deadline for receipt of the Committee's opinion. Failing receipt of such opinion within the indicated timeframe, the Committee is assumed to have expressed agreement with the draft regulation in question."
More specifically, the Committee reviews such international trade matters as the results of trade negotiations, including those resulting from WTO Ministerial Conferences, and invites relevant ministers to appear before it. The Committee is also entrusted with examining bills for the approval of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements.
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| Membership |
The Committee's membership, the process for selecting members, and the duration of their terms are identical to those of the other parliamentary standing committees.
With respect to the process of selecting members, Article 18 of the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies provides that: "(1) The Chamber, on the proposal of the Conference of Committee Chairs, determines the number of seats within each committee, considered individually, to be allotted on the basis of their proportional representation to each political group, to each technical group, and to the unaffiliated members. (2) The political groups, technical groups and unaffiliated deputies nominate members for the seats allotted to them within each committee. In cases where the number of candidates equals the number of seats to be filled, the candidate or candidates may be declared elected without the need to vote as described in this section. Otherwise, members will be elected to seats allotted to each of the political groups, technical groups, or unaffiliated deputies concerned on the basis of an absolute majority vote. Invalid or blank ballots are not counted for the purpose of calculating the required majority. In the case of a second ballot, a relative majority is sufficient. In the case of a tie, members are selected by drawing lots".
According to Article 16 (2) of the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies, "Standing committees are composed of at least five and at most 13 members". Like all other standing committees, the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Immigration is currently composed of 11 members. The Committee has a Chair and two Vice Chairs (one from the opposition party).
With respect to member terms, Article 16 (1) provides that "following each renewal of its membership, the Chamber sets up standing committees and determines the number of members, the title, and the terms of reference for each committee ". In principle, committee members are elected for a term of five years, equal to a legislative period, but allowing for changes in membership in accordance with procedures set forth in Article 18 (2) of the Standing Orders.
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| Working methods |
According to Article 20 (1) of the Standing Orders, each parliamentary committee sets its own meeting agendas, failing which the agenda is set by the committee chairs or the President of the Chamber of Deputies.
With respect to the organization of deliberations, Article 21 (7) of the Standing Orders provides that "Parliamentary committee deliberations are non-public unless a committee or the Chamber decides otherwise".
As regards hearings, Article 21 (1) of the Standing Orders provides that parliamentary committees may organize public and non-public hearings.
With regard to exchanges of views with government authorities, Article 19 (4) provides that committees may invite members of government to appear and testify before them.
The main sources of information on matters pertaining to international trade include, most notably, the government and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Under article 25 (1) of the Standing Orders, committees have the discretion to obtain documentary information from persons or agencies outside of parliament and from European Deputies.
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| Relations with other parliamentary bodies |
No information |
| Relations with external bodies |
The Committee may invite members of the government to testify before it.
Occasionally, parliamentarians participate as part of official national delegations to major intergovernmental negotiation conferences, such as the WTO Ministerial Conferences.
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| Subjects dealt with |
Committee members have recently been following the work of the Parliamentary Conference on WTO. |
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
| Main address |
Secretariat of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Immigration, 9 rue de Saint-Exupéry, 1475 Luxembourg |
| Phone |
+352 466 966 310 |
| Fax |
+352 466 966 209 |
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PRESIDING OFFICER(S)
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| Name |
Mr. Ben Fayot |
| Notes |
Chair, Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Immigration |
| Address (if different from above) |
Secretariat of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation, and Immigration, 9 rue de Saint-Exupéry, 1475 Luxembourg |
| Phone |
+352 466 966 310 |
| Fax |
+352 466 966 209 |
| E-mail |
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| Website |
http://www.chd.lu
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SECRETARY
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| Name |
Ms. Isabelle Barra |
| Notes |
Secretary, Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Immigration |
| Address (if different from above) |
Secretariat of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation, and Immigration, 9 rue de Saint-Exupéry, 1475 Luxembourg |
| Phone |
+352 466 966 310 |
| Fax |
+352 466 966 209 |
| E-mail |
ibarra@chd.lu |
| web site: |
http://www.chd.lu
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| Notes |
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