In an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on 11 November 1980, the day of the opening, in Madrid, of the second CSCE Follow-up Meeting, Alain Ravennes, Secretary General of the Comité des Intellectuels pour l’Europe des Libertés (Committee of Intellectuals for a Free Europe — CIEL), criticises the lack of balance and reciprocity in the negotiations between the Soviets and the West and calls on the Western countries to demand that the Soviets comply in full with the Helsinki commitments before any talks can start.