The Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET, after the French name "Affaires étrangères"), previously called Political Affairs, is a committee

Committee

A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...

 of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

. Composed of 75 members and 74 substitutes, it has two subcommittees: the Subcommittee on Human Rights

Subcommittee on Human Rights

The Subcommittee on Human Rights is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. The committee is chaired by Barbara Lochbihler .- See also :* Sakharov Prize...

 (DROI) and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Subcommittee on Security and Defence

The Subcommittee on Security and Defence is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It concerns Defence, and Security....

 (SEDE).

Foreign affairs is not an area that Parliament has much power over, yet attracts a high proportion of the more well-known and influential MEPs given the prestige of the area.

Members

For an up to date list of members, see: the European Parliament website: AFET members

Chairpersons

Term	Chairperson	Group	State
July 1979 - April 1980	Emilio Colombo Emilio Colombo Emilio Colombo is an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 1970 to 1972. In addition to having held top positions in Italian governments, he was also active in European politics.-Biography:...	EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...	Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
April 1980 - July 1984	Mariano Rumor Mariano Rumor Mariano Rumor was an Italian politician, a member of the Democrazia Cristiana and the 40th Prime Minister of Italy.He was born in Vicenza, Veneto...	EPP	Italy
July 1984 - January 1987	Roberto Formigoni Roberto Formigoni Roberto Formigoni is an Italian politician, and the current President of Lombardy Region, Italy.-Life and career:Graduated in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan, he studied political economy at the Sorbonne, in Paris....	EPP	Italy
January 1987 - July 1989	Sergio Ercini	EPP	Italy
July 1989 - February 1991	Giovanni Goria Giovanni Goria Giovanni Giuseppe Goria was an Italian politician. He served as the 47th Prime Minister of Italy from 1987 until 1988.-Biography:Goria was born in Asti ....	EPP	Italy
February 1991 - January 1992	Maria Luisa Cassanmagnago	EPP	Italy
January 1992 - July 1994	Enrique Baron Crespo Enrique Barón Crespo Enrique Barόn Crespo is a Spanish politician and lawyer. He is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and sits with the Party of European Socialists group in the European Parliament....	SOC Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
July 1994 - January 1997	Abel Matutes Abel Matutes Abel Matutes y Juan is a Spanish politician who served as Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 6 May 1996 to 2000. Matutes was born in Ibiza on 31 October 1941 and his early political life was in that region. He was Mayor of Ibiza in 1970 and 1971 and became Senator for Ibiza and Formentera in...	EPP	Spain
January 1997 - July 1999	Tom Spencer Tom Spencer Tom Spencer may refer to:*Tom Spencer , American former Chicago White Sox outfielder and minor league baseball manager*Tom Spencer , British cricketer and international umpire...	EPP	UK
July 1999 - February 2007	Elmar Brok Elmar Brok Elmar Brok is a German Member of the European Parliament and the former Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was elected on the CDU ticket and sits with the European People's Party group...	EPP	Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
February 2007 - July 2009	Jacek Saryusz-Wolski Jacek Saryusz-Wolski Jacek Emil Saryusz-Wolski is a Polish diplomat, politician and a MEP: member of the European Parliament...	EPP	Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
July 2009 -	Gabriele Albertini Gabriele Albertini Gabriele Albertini is an Italian politician, former Mayor of Milan and incumbent Member of the European Parliament for North-Western Italy with The People of Freedom, part of the European People's Party, and sits in the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism.He is a substitute...	EPP	Italy
Source (79-07):

External links

• Official webpage