In discussion it was recalled that Ministers had decided in
July 1966, as part of the Government's measures of economy, that if
the Federal German Government were not able to make a contribution
sufficient to cover the whole of the foreign exchange cost of our
forces in Germany in 1967-68, we should have to propose through the prescribed NATO and WEU procedures force reductions sufficient to eliminate the foreign exchange cost of those forces. The NATO/WEU
procedures had been activated, and other contingency planning put in hand; but the NATO/WEU procedures had not been followed through
because they were not compatible with our acceptance of the United States
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