On 14 July 1960, the Council of Western European Union (WEU) circulates its final reply to Assembly Recommendation 40 on the state of European security. The Council appreciates the attention that the Assembly Committee on Defence Questions and Armaments has devoted to the analysis of defence issues in the WEU member countries. But the Council cannot accept the Assembly’s argument that nuclear parity is leading to the threat of a limited war in Europe, since NATO doctrine precludes such a possibility. This doctrine states that the NATO shield should be strong enough to form a deterrent to all kinds of minor aggression. Moreover, the Council cannot accept the premise in the Assembly’s Recommendation on the adoption of a regional policy for European security within the Atlantic Alliance, since it believes that the collective defence of Europe and North America should be based on this organisation. It cannot accept that in the event of an attack on a NATO member, the other states would not provide their full support. The Council also considers the creation of a joint European strategic nuclear force under WEU control to be unacceptable. On the matter of cooperation in the field of arms production, the Council explains that experience has shown that it is virtually impossible to develop an overall plan for the joint production of armaments.