§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the recent decision to revitalise the defensive role of the Western European Union was first discussed by the North Atlantic Council;
(2) what are the implications for (a) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation strategy and (b) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military planning of the recent decision to revitalise the defence role of the Western European Union;
(3) what consultations took place with Denmark, Norway and Spain before the recent decision to revitalise the defence role of the Western European Union; and what was the reaction of those countries to the proposal.
§ Mr. StanleyThe proposal to make better use of the institutions of the Western European Union was not discussed first by the North Atlantic Council. The relationship between NATO and the WEU was described in the answer on 19 June of my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Sir D. Smith). The reactions of the NATO non-WEU countries is a matter for their respective Governments.