§ Mr. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Defence what differences there are between the study undertaken by the European Commission on European Armaments Industries and the task allotted to the Western European Union Standing Armaments Committee on 31 May 1976; whether there is duplication of work in these two studies; and what steps he intends to take to avoid this being so.
§ Mr. PymI hope that duplication between the two studies will be avoided although I understand that both cover similar ground. The scope of the European Commission study and how it will be used is a matter for the Commission, over which I have no influence.