A Permanent Joint Military Committee of the Consultative Council of Western Powers was formed on April 30 in London following a one-day conference of the defense ministers and top military leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The committee, which established its headquarters in London, planned to commence work at once on the drafting of joint plans for intelligence, operations, and standardization of equipment among the five nations. The ultimate object of the group was to compile an overall defense scheme which could then be coordinated with a United States-European military cooperation plan in case of war. Such a plan was considered a vital concomitant to economic collaboration under the European Recovery Program. The committee which was set up consisted of fifteen senior officers representing the combined land, sea and air staffs of the five powers. The chairmanship of the group was to rotate at three-month intervals.