The Defence Planning Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization met in Ministerial Session in Brussels on 1st and 2nd December, 1982. Ministers recalled the Programme for Peace in Freedom declared by their Heads of State and Government in Bonn in June of this year. This programme rests equally on the imperatives of maintaining strong deterrence through defence modernization and the need to achieve, through constructive negotiation, agreements on militarily significant, equitable and verifiable arms reductions. The Bonn Summit emphasized the Allied commitment to the prevention of war, to the preservation of democracy and to building the foundations for peace. The Allies expressed their collective determination both to maintain adequate military strength and political solidarity and to seek more constructive East-West relations whenever Soviet behaviour makes this possible. On the previous day Ministers participating in the Nuclear Planning Group reviewed a wide range of nuclear and arms control issues, and noted with concern that the Soviet Union continues to improve the entire spectrum of its nuclear forces from strategic to short-range. Ministers turned their attention in the Defence Planning Committee meeting to a review of NATO's defence programme as a whole against the background of the continuing numerical superiority of Soviet conventional forces and the growing application of advanced technologies. Modernization and expansion of Warsaw Pact conventional forces continue to accelerate and include the addition of advanced aircraft, surface ships, submarines, a full range of armoured vehicles and artillery and other systems. In this context, and recognizing particularly the need for strong conventional forces, Ministers discussed the results of the 1982 Annual Defence Review, adopted the NATO Force Plan for 1983-1987, and agreed to provide resources to implement the necessary force improvements. Ministers noted the considerable progress achieved by nations in 1982, but acknowledged that there is still much to be done, including the pursuit of measures originally identified by the Long-Term Defence Programme. As a further important contribution to the credibility of NATO deterrence, Ministers approved a plan for the rapid reinforcement of Europe as necessary in a Crisis. The improved capability to reinforce and augment Allied forces in the forward areas, implicit in this plan, extends the range of options open to the Alliance. In reviewing the status of the collective security efforts of the Alliance in the 1980s, Ministers reaffirmed their strong conviction that, over and above the importance of reinforcements, the continuing and undiminished presence of United States and Canadian forces in Europe is essential to NATO's defence and deterrence strategy and serves the interests of all the members of the Alliance. These forces play a unique and essential role in the integrated defence posture and as a concrete demonstration of the cohesion and will of the Alliance. In like fashion, the efforts by European members of the Alliance to maintain and improve their defence capabilities are essential elements in this common demonstration of cohesion and will. In this context, Ministers reaffirmed the intent expressed at the Bonn Summit to continue to give due attention to fair burden-sharing and developing areas of practical co-operation. It is clear that all countries are making sacrifices to meet their defence commitments. However, Ministers noted the extent to which Greece, Portugal and Turkey rely on Allied assistance to carry out their missions more effectively to the advantage of all. Ministers agreed to continue to explore the possibilities for further support and assistance. Recalling the important declaration on arms control and disarmament issued at the Bonn Summit, Ministers expressed strong support for the position taken by the United States in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) to seek substantial reductions in the strategic arsenals of both the United States and the Soviet Union through an equitable and verifiable agreement. Ministers also reiterated their strong support of the position taken in the negotiations on Intermediate-Range Nuclear forces by the United States, which was developed in close consultation with its Allies, and which calls for the elimination of all existing and planned Soviet and United States long-range land-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles, thus resulting in the elimination of an entire category of nuclear weapons. They also reiterated their adherence to both tracks of their December 1979 decision as the firm foundation of these negotiations (1). Recalling the Bonn Summit initiatives on Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) and the tabling of a draft Western Treaty in Vienna, Ministers expressed the hope that the East would respond in an equally serious and constructive manner. Ministers stressed their common interest in the security, stability and sovereign independence of countries outside the NATO area: respect for genuine non-alignment is important for international stability. While recognizing that the purpose of NATO is to preserve the security of the North Atlantic Area, Ministers acknowledged that developments beyond the NATO area might threaten the vital interests of members of the Alliance. They agreed to take full account of the effect of such developments on NATO security, defence capabilities, and the national interests of member countries, and recalled the Bonn Summit at which the need to consult and to share assessments on the basis of commonly identified objectives was reaffirmed. Recognizing that the policies which nations adopt outside the NATO area are a matter for national decision, Ministers stated that those countries such as the United States, which have the means to take action outside the treaty area to deter threats to the vital interests of the West, should do so in timely consultation with their allies, as defined in the Bonn Summit documents. Ministers acknowledged that other individual allied nations, on the basis of national decision, would make an important contribution to the security of the Alliance by making available facilities to assist such deployments needed to strengthen deterrence in such areas. Ministers acknowledged the need for increased co-operative planning, noting that the Alliance authorities are studying a report on the implications for NATO of United States plans for the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force. Ministers endorsed the need to seek ways to redress escalating defence costs by more effective application of national resources to defence, particularly in the conventional field. Some improvements can be achieved through the rationalization and better co-ordination of NATO defence planning aimed at a greater harmonization of such planning activities as those involving infrastructure, armaments and logistics. In this context Ministers emphasized the special importance which they attach to armaments co-operation within the scope of the transatlantic dialogue and especially with regard to the concept of families of weapons. Consistent with the Bonn Summit mandate, Ministers received a United States paper on taking advantage of emerging technologies to improve conventional capabilities and thereby enhance deterrence and defence. They agreed that NATO should actively seek ways to exploit these technologies within the co-operative defence planning process and endorsed the pursuit of NATO efforts to look for the economical and efficient application of emerging technologies. Similarly, effective steps to restrict the transfer of militarily relevant technology to the Warsaw Pact will serve to preserve the West's technological advantage, particularly in the development of conventional armaments. In this regard, Ministers noted the recent progress made in this area and urged continued strong support of common efforts to stem the leakage of Western technology to the East. Ministers welcomed the growing public debate in the West about how best to preserve peace with freedom over the coming years. They acknowledged the responsibility of democratic governments to ensure that these debates were carried forward in full recognition of all the facts. Fundamental to any such discussion must be a recognition of the defensive nature of the Alliance. Equally, in the face of the continuing build-up of armaments by the Warsaw Pact, there must be a recognition of the need, if peace is to be preserved, for NATO to maintain a strong, modern and flexible triad of forces. NATO must maintain conventional forces at a level sufficient to ensure that a potential aggressor could not count on any quick or easy gain. In view, however, of the capabilities of both the nuclear and conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact, conventional defences alone cannot deter aggression (1). It is therefore essential to have available intermediate- and short-range nuclear forces and the strategic nuclear forces of the United States and the United Kingdom as indispensable parts of the interlocking triad of forces (1). A potential aggressor would have to take into account that an attack on any member of the Alliance would run the risk of escalation making the price of aggression higher than any conceivable gain. This is the essence of NATO's strategy of flexible response that has been - and remains - essential to the maintenance of peace. Ministers reaffirmed that continued adherence to this strategy backed up by strong defence efforts, including nuclear and conventional force modernization, holds the greatest promise of creating a climate conducive to substantial, equitable and verifiable reductions in the level of nuclear and conventional arms and to the achievement of genuine détente. Footnote: Greece reserves her position.