Britain and France today displayed a united front on Iraq and European defence but differences remain over both issues.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, who fell out over the US-led war on Iraq, said they had agreed that a European Union defence capability must not undermine the NATO alliance.
"NATO will remain the cornerstone of our defence," Mr Blair said at a joint news conference following a one-day Anglo-French summit.
But he skirted over the question of where the EU's defence force would be headquartered - a bone of contention between the two leaders.
France and Germany want the EU force to have a military headquarters independent of NATO, a move Britain opposes.
In a joint communique, the two leaders said the EU "must be willing and able" to deploy troops in an autonomous operation within 15 days in response to a crisis. The EU should a have a credible battlegroup size force of about 1,500 troops, it said.
Mr Chirac was the most implacable opponent of the US-led attack on Iraq and Anglo-French relations reached a low in the build-up to the war when London accused Paris of scuppering a United Nations resolution authorising military action.
Today he criticised US proposals for the transfer of power to the Iraqi people: "It seems to be to be set to take place over too long a period. It seems to be to be incomplete," he said of the handover plans.
The US timetable calls for indirect elections for a provisional Iraqi assembly by May 31. This body would elect a transitional government by June 30. A new constitution is expected to be completed by March 15, 2005, with a full election for a permanent government by the end of December that year.