The Defence Planning Committee (DPC) was the ultimate authority on all questions related to the
NATO Military Command Structure. The DPC provided guidance to NATO's military authorities and oversaw the force planning process. Following the withdrawal of France from the integrated military command, the DPC was delegated greater mandate over the integrated military command, and gained the same level of authority as the
North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the Nuclear Planning Group on matters within its competence. When it was dissolved in 2010, its responsibilities were absorbed by the NAC. It provided guidance to NATO's military authorities and oversaw the force planning process. The force planning process identified NATO's military requirements, set planning targets for individual countries to contribute to those requirements, and assessed the extent to which members meet those targets and provided other forces and capabilities to the Alliance. Momentarily, just before being dissolved, all member countries were represented on the DPC. However, between 1966 and April 2009,
France was not represented on this committee as a consequence of
its withdrawal from the Military Command Structure. France announced their return to full participation at the
2009 Strasbourg/ Kehl Summit. == References ==