Since Denmark joined the EU (EEC), the European Affairs Committee has been the parliamentary crank of the Danish EU decision making process. Behind closed doors, it scrutinizes negotiation proposals presented by changing Danish ministers prior to negotiations in the EU. Because of this, the European Affairs Committee is considered one of the most powerful committees in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.

This book opens the doors to the European Affairs Committee by showing in practice how the committee reaches its decisions. The book demonstrates how the committee, through its work with EU policy, sets itself apart from other parliamentary committees. In addition, it illustrates the interaction between the committee and ministers and between the committee and other parliamentary committees as well as the significance of the subcommittee of the European Affairs Committee and the EU spokesmen of the parliamentary groups. It shows how the parliamentary groups act vis-à-vis the European Affairs Committee. Finally it analyses the European Affairs Committee's influence on power structures within the parliamentary groups.

The European Affairs Committee’s scrutiny of changing governments' EU policy is not performed by the committee as such, but rather it is a scrutiny performed by opposition groups within the committee. Therefore the European Affairs Committee can be seen as an arena for the Parliament’s political party groups. The behavior of the committee members is thus influenced by party politics with regards to the EU, and the well-known dichotomy between government and opposition manifests itself when committee members consider negotiation proposals presented by ministers.