HC Deb 07 December 1993 vol 234 cc172-3W
Mr. Mackinlay

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will publish a summary of the United Kingdom's defence plans, together with details of those forces and capabilities that Her Majesty's Government will offer to make available to the alliance during the forthcoming year;

(2) when during 1993 NATO requested Her Majesty's Government to discuss revisions in the United Kingdom's defence plans, and the scale of military forces and capabilities which it makes available to the alliance;

(3) if all members of NATO's integrated military structure are obliged to provide annually to the alliance a detailed statement of their respective defence policies together with a disclosure of those military forces and capabilities which they intend to commit or make available to NATO during the forthcoming year;

(4) if the United Kingdom will be submitting a statement of its defence policy together with details of its military forces and capabilities which it is prepared to place at the disposal of NATO during the forthcoming year, at the Ministerial Defence Planning Committee at its meeting on 8 December;

(5) which other countries which are members of NATO's integrated military structure will be submitting a statement of their defence policies, accompanied by details of those military forces and capabilities which they are prepared to place at the disposal of the alliance during the forthcoming year, at the Ministerial Defence Planning Committee at its meeting on 8 December;

(6) if NATO may oblige any member state of the alliance's integrated military structure to discuss any significant changes in its defence plans and/or the scale of the military forces and capabilities which it makes available to NATO which it seeks to make outside of the annual review cycle conducted each autumn by the Ministerial Defence Planning Committee.

Mr. Hanley

All NATO allies who participate in collective defence planning: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are obliged to provide annually to the alliance a detailed statement of their defence policy and the military forces and capabilities they intend to commit to NATO. The commitment for the first year of the planning period is taken to be firm. For calendar year 1994 the United Kingdom submitted details to the alliance in July this year in its reply to the annual NATO defence planning questionnaire. An assessment of these plans will be submitted to NATO Defence Ministers at the autumn Ministerial Defence Planning Committee meeting on 8 December. These details are classified and will.not be published. In exceptional circumstances the alliance may ask a nation to discuss significant changes in plans outside the annual review cycle. No such request was made of the United Kingdom during 1993.

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