British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac confronted the sensitive issue of European defense on Monday and in a show of unity announced plans for a small rapid-reaction force of EU peacekeepers.

Frosty relations between the two leaders, who fell out over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, appeared to be thawing.

But differences remained over the timetable to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis, and Chirac repeated calls for greater United Nations involvement in running the country.

Following a daylong bridge-building summit, Blair and Chirac said the European Union should be capable of dispatching a 1,500-strong force within 15 days to respond to a crisis.

They reassured Washington that their efforts to bolster Europe's military muscle would not undermine NATO but rather complement its peacekeeping efforts.

"It makes ... complete sense, in circumstances where NATO isn't engaged, for Europe to have the capability and the power to act in the interests of Europe and the wider world," Blair told a news conference.

Chirac also stressed the alliance was "the mainstay of European defense."

"France doesn't have a problem with NATO," he said.

The United States generally is supportive of the EU boosting its military brawn, but wants the Europeans to rely on NATO to plan and run operations.

Washington is worried about plans, strongly advocated by France, to set up a separate planning and command headquarters for running military operations outside of NATO. Both Blair and U.S. President Bush want to avoid duplication of NATO facilities.

Blair regards Britain as a bridge between America and Europe and has been trying to steer a compromise on the issue but differences remained on the issue following Monday's talks.

"There are operations which need to be carried out by us and it has to be properly prepared, properly led and properly operated," Chirac said. "What we want is our defense to be as effective and efficient as possible."

"Some disagreements remain," Chirac acknowledged, but he added that he and Blair were "determined today to show our confidence ... that we will find a solution."

Closer EU defense cooperation is nothing new. Blair and Chirac laid the foundations at an Anglo-French summit in St. Malo, France, in 1998.

Earlier this year, European defense ministers agreed to establish a 60,000-strong force that could be deployed within 60 days if the U.N. requested it.

The EU has sent several hundred peacekeeping troops to Macedonia, and this summer sent a 1,700-strong French-led force to help quell ethnic violence in Congo.

A communique issued at the close of Monday's summit said the proposed rapid-reaction force would be deployed in response to a U.N. request to stabilize a situation or meet another short-term need until peacekeepers acting under a U.N. mandate arrive.

"For us, NATO is absolutely fundamental," Blair told France-2 television in French. "It's the foundation of our defense, but again there will be situations where NATO does not want to be involved and in those cases it is important for Europe to have the capability, the power, to conduct operations ...

"I don't see it as a choice between NATO and European defense."

Analysts said the plan did not go far beyond the Congo effort.

But Timothy Garden of the Royal Institute of International Affairs said it showed a commitment to boosting Europe's defense capability and would encourage other member states to bolster their military strength.

"They (Blair and Chirac) are obviously trying to make Europe able to do more useful things. It is a small step on the way to more useful EU capability," he said.

On Iraq, Chirac called for a speedier transfer of power.

He said Washington's proposal to transfer sovereignty to a provisional Iraqi government by June 30 — formally ending the occupation — was the right approach, but did not happen soon enough.

"I think the new policy directions that our American friends seem to be taking, which is basically a policy of transferring sovereignty and responsibility to the Iraqi people ... I believe is the right way to go," he said.

However, he added, "I think it's extending over somewhat too long a period and it seems to me a somewhat incomplete policy. ... The role of the United Nations is not as clearly specified as it should be."

(China Daily November 25, 2003)