asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the defence capabilities that European members of NATO currently obtain from the US which they would have to "spend double their defence budgets to obtain" for themselves as stated by the Foreign Secretary on 21st March 1996 (HC Deb., col. 521).

For any European member of NATO to achieve a defence capability comparable to that of the US would require more than a doubling of their defence expenditure. A list of the most important specific capabilities which currently only the US can provide to the Alliance would include satellite intelligence and strategic Heavy Lift.