HC Deb 20 March 1963 vol 674 cc355-6
1. Mr. Warbey

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether, in pursuance of the Paris Declaration of October, 1954, he will call the attention of the Governments of France and of the German Federal Republic to the fact that the military clauses of the Treaty of Alliance between France and Germany threaten the integrity and unity of the Atlantic Alliance and its defensive purposes, as defined in that Declaration, and that if the Treaty is ratified Her Majesty's Government will consider France and West Germany as having forfeited their rights under the North Atlantic Treaty to any guarantee and any military assistance provided for in that Treaty and its Protocols.

The Lord Privy Seal (Mr. Edward Heath)

No, Sir.

Mr. Warbey

Is that the opinion which has been supplied to the Government by their legal advisers? Have they been consulted about it? If so, have they taken into account that the Treaty contains no clause expressly subordinating its provisions to the obligations undertaken by France and Germany in the Paris Agreement and the North Atlantic Treaty and the revised Brussels Treaty?

Mr. Heath

There is nothing in the Agreements contrary to the obligations of these two countries.

22. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will ensure that, following the Franco-German Treaty of 22nd January, 1963, no steps are taken within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to give West Germany nuclear weapons or to give her any means of obtaining them.

Mr. Heath

I have nothing to add to my reply of 11th February.

Mr. Allaun

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that following this Treaty the Italian Government gathered together all their ambassadors and defence experts and came to the conclusion that nuclear weapons were involved? If this is correct, what do Her Majesty's Government intend to do about it, either inside or outside N.A.T.O.?

Mr. Heaths

I have no knowledge of any conclusions to which a meeting of Italian ambassadors may have come about the Franco-German Treaty. We had a meeting in London of all British ambassadors in Europe and we came to the reverse conclusion.

Mr. Warbey

Does the right hon. Gentleman equally have no knowledge of a secret agreement or understanding between France and Germany that the Germans should co-operate in the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on French soil?

Mr. Heath

I have no knowledge of any such agreement, and if there is such an agreement I obviously would not have knowledge of it.