§ 1. Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will have discussions with other Defence Ministers of the EEC on joint exercises designed to train forces in the techniques of United Nations peacekeeping.
§ The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Frederick Mulley)Her Majesty's Government attach importance to the training of forces in the techniques of United Nations peacekeeping; but I see no requirement at present to discuss this subject with Defence Ministers of other members of the EEC.
§ Mr. HooleyWould my right hon. Friend agree that some of the countries of Western Europe, our own included, are well placed to play an intermediate role—obviously below the level of the super-Powers—in peacekeeping operations in areas such as the Horn of Africa at present? Would it not advance the cause of international peacekeeping if we considered exercises between Western European countries in this context?
§ Mr. MulleyI would have thought that any such discussions were better undertaken in NATO than within the EEC, which has no defence obligations. It is difficult to see how such exercises would help in the objectives that my hon. Friend properly wants to pursue—namely, increasing the possible security role of the United Nations in this way. We had asked, in the proposals for the Special Session on Disarmament, that this should be a matter for consideration. However, I do not think that the carrying out of exercises in circumstances quite different from those that would happen on the day would take us any further forward.