In a note dated 19 October 1960, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates a draft introductory statement proposed by the French delegation for the joint meeting of the Council and the Committee on Defence Questions and Armaments. The Council starts by explaining the reasons why some of the replies given to the Assembly are sometimes unsatisfactory, referring to the nature of WEU’s powers in the military field. The Council’s powers are limited to the level of forces of the Member States, the maintenance of British forces on the European continent, the control of armaments and some aspects of arms standardisation. Within the scope of its powers, the Council keeps the Assembly informed through its Annual Report (Article IX) and provides additional information to the committees. A procedure has also been developed with NATO for obtaining required information but this is subject to certain rules including the confidentiality of classified subjects. The Council concludes by pointing out that questions should be sent to the Council sufficiently early for this procedure to follow its course.