BRUSSELS: The leaders of Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg meet in Brussels tomorrow to discuss a plan for closer EU defence co-operation. Denis Staunton reports
But diplomats suggested at the weekend that the leaders, who led EU opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, have abandoned radical proposals that would have angered London and Washington.
Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, France's President Jacques Chirac and Luxembourg's Mr Jean-Claude Juncker are believed to have rejected proposals by Belgium's Mr Guy Verhofstadt for joint EU military units, an EU military headquarters separate from NATO and specific targets for defence spending.
The leaders are now expected to limit their ambitions to the establishment of an EU armaments and strategic research agency, a solidarity clause pledging EU member-states to help each other in the event of a terrorist attack and allowing some EU countries to form a mutual defence pact. All these ideas are currently under discussion at the Convention on the Future of Europe.
Diplomats say that Mr Schröder and Mr Chirac, who are eager to improve their relationships with Washington and London, would like to have postponed tomorrow's meeting. But Mr Verhofstadt hopes that the mini-summit will give him a boost in advance of next month's general election in Belgium.
Mr Verhofstadt, who launched the defence initiative at the start of the Iraq war, failed to persuade the EU's other founder members - Italy and the Netherlands - to attend tomorrow's meeting. The EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, also declined to join the four leaders.
Although Mr Verhofstadt insists that the initiative is open to all EU member-states, it is widely perceived as an attempt to build a common EU defence without Britain. Most EU diplomats dismiss the plan as unrealistic and the timing of tomorrow's meeting could hardly be more unfortunate for Mr Schröder and Mr Chirac.
The US has threatened to punish France for its opposition to the war in Iraq and US diplomats have told Germany that much work is needed to restore friendly relations between Washington and Berlin.
German opposition politicians have criticised Mr Schröder's decision to travel to Brussels tomorrow, arguing that the meeting can only serve to deepen divisions within Europe while further antagonising Washington.
Some security experts believe the best way to improve EU defence co-operation is to build on proposals made by Mr Chirac and Britain's Mr Tony Blair at Le Touquet in February. They called on the EU to "set new objectives, both quantitative (including relevant measures of defence expenditure) and qualitative (preparedness, military effectiveness, deployability, inter-operability and sustainability of forces).
They also proposed that the EU should be able to deploy air, sea, and land forces within five to 10 days. At present, the EU's Rapid Reaction Force is expected to be ready for deployment within 60 days. Most EU governments favour establishing an EU armaments and strategic research agency to work on harmonising military requirements, co-ordinating defence research and development, and encouraging the convergence of national procurement procedures.