mber States under the North Atlantic Treaty and be compatible with
the common security and defence policy established within that
framework.
5. The provisions of this Article shall not prevent the development of
closer co-operation between two or more Member States on a bilateral
level, in the framework of the WEU and the Atlantic Alliance, provided
such co-operation does not run counter to or impede that provided for
in this Title.
6. With a view to furthering the objective of this Treaty, and having in
view the date of 1998 in the context of Article XII of the Brussels
Treaty, the provisions of this Article may be revised as provided for in
Article N(2) on the basis of a report to be presented in 1996 by the
Council to the European Council, which shall include an evaluation of
the progress made and the experience gained until then.

ARTICLE J.5
1. The Presidency shall represent the Union in matters coming within
the common foreign and security policy.
2. The Presidency shall be responsible for the implementation of
common measures; in that capacity it shall in principle express the
position of the Union in international organizations and international
conferences.
3. In the tasks referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the presidency shall
be assisted if needs be by the previous and next Member States to
hold the Presidency. The Commission shall be fully associated in
these tasks.
4. Without prejudice to Article J.2(3) and Article J.3(4), Member States
represented in international organizations or international conferences
where not all the Member States participate shall keep the latter
informed of any matter of common interest.
Member States which are also members of the United Nations Security
Council will concert and keep the other Member States fully informed.
Member States which are permanent members of the Security Council
will, in the execution of their functions, ensure the defence of the
positions and the interests of the union, without prejudice to their
responsibilities under the provisions of the United Nations Charter.

ARTICLE J.6
The diplomatic and consular missions of the Member States and the
Commission Delegations in third countries and international
conferences, and their representations to international organizations,
shall co-operate in ensuring that the common positions and common
measures adopted by the Council are complied with and implemented.
They shall step up co-operation by exchanging in