COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

EU plans rapid reaction force

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union says it could be ready to field a rapid reaction force in trouble spots by 2003.

But it concedes that in the early stages, at least, such a force could at most be a toothless and sluggish military machine.

The global fright over terrorism since the September 11 attacks on the United States has heightened concern about the EU's lack of capacity to back its policies with action.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said member states must offer more resources for a force that could undertake humanitarian relief, peacekeeping and crisis management.

"The EU will be able to carry out the whole range of (these) tasks by 2003, albeit with possible restrictions in terms of scale and deployment time and perhaps a higher level of risk," Solana told a meeting of EU defence ministers on Monday.

He was speaking at the start of a Capabilities Improvement Conference, which will consider work still required by EU states to deploy collectively up to 60,000 troops within 60 days and keep them in theatre for at least one year.

The project has been dogged by controversy since its conception in 1999, not least because of Turkey's opposition to giving the EU access to NATO planning, equipment and facilities.

Officials said that about 104 of 144 so-called capability targets -- including multiple-launch rocket systems and electronic warfare battalions -- have been met.

But of those remaining, half are crucial for risky missions such as separating warring parties and preventing conflicts.

These include military transport capacity, an area in which European forces were woefully deficient during the Kosovo war.

So far about 100,000 soldiers, 400 aircraft and 100 ships have been thrown into the pool of resources for the force, which would not be a standing army.

But Solana said EU states needed to commit more and said he favoured a "declaration of progressive operationality" at next month's EU summit in Laeken, Belgium.