§ 12. Mr. David Chaytor (Bury, North)If a draft text of the revised NATO strategic concept is to be submitted for discussion and agreement to Foreign Ministers at the December meeting of the North Atlantic Council. [61350]
§ The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. George Robertson)I expect that NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers will discuss issues relevant to the strategic concept at the December meetings of the North Atlantic Council. Drafting of the revised strategic concept is at an early stage. An agreed text will be adopted by the Washington NATO summit in April 1999.
§ Mr. ChaytorI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Does he envisage that any changes will be tabled to the section of the document relating to the role of nuclear forces, particularly paragraphs 55 to 57?
§ Mr. RobertsonThe strategic concept as a whole will be a product of consensus among allies, and some people 15 have raised issues about nuclear forces. I cannot predict or pre-empt the outcome of any such discussion, but the United Kingdom—after a full strategic defence review that looked at all those issues—sees no need to change NATO nuclear policy as expressed in the strategic concept.
§ Mr. Michael Colvin (Romsey)When NATO Ministers meet in Washington next year to agree NATO's new strategic concept, what chance is there of European Ministers agreeing on the same objectives? What initiatives can the Secretary of State take, in light of the fact that there is no clearly defined European security and defence identity and no common European foreign and security policy? The European countries share principles, but what initiatives can he take to ensure that European Foreign and Defence Ministers go to Washington not only with shared principles but with a shared identity, to improve the chances of getting agreement on NATO's new strategic concept?
§ Mr. RobertsonWe approach the 50th anniversary NATO summit in Washington next year with a consensus view that will involve the Americans and the Canadians, as well as the Europeans, in any forward thinking that might take place on the alliance. The hon. Gentleman underestimates the degree of success that there has been in building a European security and defence identity. He underestimates also the importance of the new, strengthened procedures for a common foreign and security policy that exist following the Amsterdam summit, and their implications. European countries will be able to build on and use capabilities when the Americans and the Canadians do not wish to be involved.
The hon. Gentleman asked what the British will bring to the table. I would say that it is the strategic defence review, which has been widely applauded—I say with some modesty—by countries as diverse as the United States and the Russian Federation, and which has shown how a nation such as this can configure and reshape its forces away from the enemies of the past to the risks and the threats of tomorrow—something from which we hope our allies will take lessons.