On 18 December 1954, the seven Foreign Ministers of Western European Union (WEU) meet in Paris. The ministers discuss the questions raised at previous sessions, particularly the machinery for fulfilling the military tasks of the Council. The President of the Council and French Foreign Minister Pierre Mendès France emphasises that, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s authority should not be diminished, the Council also has various military responsibilities such as regulating the maximum level of forces and controlling armaments, and that it would be useful to hold meetings between the national representatives in order to fulfil these tasks.