§ 89. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the proposal for the reactivation of the Western European Union.
§ Mr. EggarThe revival of the Western European Union launched in 1984 is proceeding well. The Paris agencies for the study of defence and security questions have been active since their creation on 1 January 1986. The London secretariat has been slightly expanded to service the increased work load of the council. Further institutional refinements will be implemented in the early part of this year. WEU Foreign and Defence Ministers continue to meet at six-monthly intervals, most recently in Luxembourg in November 1986. Their discussions have shown that WEU has a valuable role to play as a forum for exchanging views on security questions of vital concern to Europe. We have played a prominent part in all aspects of the revival process.