§ 24 Mr. RiddickTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to develop increased European defence co-operation through existing NATO structures.
§ Mr. SoamesEuropean allies co-operate closely within the alliance. As agreed at last year's NATO summit, the alliance is prepared to make its collective assets available for WEU operations undertaken by the European allies in pursuit of their common foreign and security policy. NATO's combined joint task force concept, which was also endorsed at the summit, will make NATO command and control facilities available for European-led operations. These developments have paved the way for the generation of separable but not separate European capabilities.