Consultations also take place on economic questions related to security, including issues such as defence spending and the conversion of defence industries to civilian purposes.

NATO’s role is often a coordinating one. In November 1998, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordinating Centre (EARDCC), inaugurated the previous June, coordinated a relief operation to flood-hit parts of Western Ukraine. Following the deterioration of the situation in and around Kosovo, the EADRCC also played a key role in coordinating humanitarian aid from NATO and Partner countries to alleviate the plight of the Kosovar refugees and assist neighbouring countries.

NATO also runs a number of international exchange programmes relating to scientific and environmental problems of concern to NATO and Partner countries. These programmes provide support for high-level scientific research, encourage development of national scientific and technological resources, and enable cost savings to be achieved through international collaboration. A number of these activities are designed to tackle defence-related environmental problems, affecting neighbouring nations, which can only be resolved through cooperative action.

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