asked the Secretary of State for Defence what results have been achieved from the exchange of information between the United States of America, Great Britain, France and Germany on current and future prospects in the defence and weapons-procurement industries.

Informal discussions are held periodically between officials of the four countries on equipment matters of common interest, with a view to identifying opportunities for co-operation of various kinds at all stages of procurement and to promoting standardisation and inter-operability. Useful agreements have been reached on a number of issues.