On 20 November 1974, the United Kingdom delegation to the Council of Western European Union (WEU) proposes various amendments to the draft reply prepared by the Italian delegation to Assembly Recommendation 254 on security and the Mediterranean. Most of the amendments are incorporated into the final reply (C (74)196). The amended document covers various points including the general question of defence in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, the role of observation satellites and the passage of the Turkish Straits by aircraft carriers from Black Sea states. One of the matters covered is also the suggestion that France should resume its former command responsibility in the western Mediterranean, but the idea that this would require an initiative which would be the responsibility of the French Government alone is not included in the final reply, which instead refers to France’s relations with NATO.