§ Mr. Reidasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to co-ordinate the activities of the independent European programme group and the Standing Armaments Committee of the Western European Union, in order to avoid duplication of work.
§ Dr. John GilbertThe Independent European Programme Group (IEPG) is the main European forum for European co-operation in defence equipment matters. Wherever possible the IEPG tries to avoid duplicating the work of other groups such as the Standing Armaments Committee of the Western European Union and officials of the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office contribute to this objective.