§ Mr. Websterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he proposes to take with regard to Recom- 92W mendation 122 adopted by the Assembly of the Western European Union that the Governments of the Western European Union should call a conference of advisers, appointed by them in permanent session, as was the case in preparing the Treaty of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and the Rome Treaty, in order to promote, step by step, a better co-ordination of their foreign policy, and that the first results of such a conference be made public by the Governments of the Western European Union in the course of 1966.
§ Mr. PadleyHer Majesty's Government share the view that it should be one of the functions of Western European Union to promote a progressive harmonisation of foreign policies between member Governments. This can be done in the Western European Union Council and we shall continue to maintain this aim at the quarterly meetings of the Council at Ministerial level.
§ Mr. Websterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he proposes to take with regard to Recommendation 118 adopted by the Assembly of the Western European Union that the Council of Ministers should reconsider the decision of December 1957 to ascertain whether the standing Armaments Committee could not be provided with greater powers in order to play a more dynamic part, in particular in determining in agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military authorities the types of armaments which should be jointly designed and produced together in the industrial framework of Europe, and that the Council of Ministers should seek to encourage European industrial agreements which would be open to all the member countries of the Western European Union and which would undertake the research and development of the types of weapons necessary for the European forces and a rational co-ordination of the mass production of such weapons.
§ Mr. PadleyHer Majesty's Government are anxious to promote greater co-operation among the member countries of the Western European Union in the research, development and production of military equipment. Her Majesty's Government are convinced that the Standing Armaments Committee has a 93W valuable part to play in this context and the Government's position in this matter has been made clear in recent discussions in the Western European Union Council.