On 10 October 1975, the Council of Western European Union (WEU) circulates a draft reply to question 160 put by Mr Krieg, a member of the Assembly. The member had asked if the nuclear forces of two WEU member countries (France and the United Kingdom) are capable of playing a role in a western defence system based on selective nuclear retaliation. In the absence of an agreement on the full text, the German delegation suggests that the Council should limit its reply. Opinions differ between the Netherlands delegation and the French and British delegations on the paragraph concerning the Declaration on Atlantic Relations signed in Ottawa: the French and British explicitly recognise the deterrent role played by the two countries in the overall strengthening of the deterrence of the Alliance.