§ 38. Mr. Warbeyasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will distinguish between the matters on which the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation takes decisions and those on which it makes recommendations.
§ Mr. GodberThe North Atlantic Council draws no distinction in its procedure between decisions and recommendations.
§ Mr. WarbeyIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is very important that the House should know what are the matters in which this country retains its sovereign right of decision and what are those in which it has abandoned its sovereignty to N.A.T.O.? Specifically, can the 'right hon. Gentleman say whether or not Her Majesty's Government still have the right to veto such a project as the proposed multilateral force?
§ Mr. GodberN.A.T.O. has no rules of procedure. N.A.T.O. is a group of sovereign States of equal status, and its practice has been to operate by unanimity on all matters which come before it.
§ Mr. Gordon WalkerHow does one tell the difference between decisions and recommendations, as, for instance, in the case of the export of steel pipe and things like that, where everything turns on whether it is a decision or a recommendation?
§ Mr. GodberMy right hon. Friend explained exactly what the United Kingdom's position was on the question of steel pipe when he answered a Question on the subject on 28th May. On the occasion when this matter came up the 937 United Kingdom representative expressly reserved the United Kingdom's freedom of action but agreed not to oppose a formal decision.
§ Mr. WarbeySurely that means that the so-called decision was only a recommendation, and therefore that the statement of the German Foreign Minister that it was binding on all member States of N.A.T.O. was incorrect.
§ Mr. GodberMy right hon. Friend has previously stated precisely what the United Kingdom position was in relation to this steel pipe. I do not think that there is any point in my adding further to it.