On 1 December 1960, the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) adopts Recommendation 57 on the state of European security — establishment of a NATO nuclear force. The Assembly, anxious that every effort should be made to ensure the defence of Europe and to avoid a dangerous and costly proliferation of atomic weapons, recommends to the WEU Council that the shortages in conventional defence should be remedied; that a permanent nuclear force should be established in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), placed under a single authority and embracing all the nuclear means present in Europe; and that the North Atlantic Council should establish joint procedures for the use of nuclear weapons. The Assembly also requests that these three proposals be communicated to the North Atlantic Council at its meeting in Paris on 16 and 17 December 1960.