On 23 January 1981, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates a draft reply from the WEU Council, prepared by the French delegation, to Assembly Recommendation 358 on the future of European security. The French emphasise that the coordination of WEU member countries’ policies is one of the reasons for the Council’s existence. Furthermore, they do not see the need for the systematic convening of meetings of the WEU Council before those of the North Atlantic Council (NAC). Finally, the French delegation rejects the Assembly’s request to set up a working group to examine the measures to be taken to adapt WEU to the present requirements of European defence. This French draft reply is taken up almost in its entirety in the final reply by the Council (C (81) 74).