PARIS -France will propose launching a European Union aircraft carrier group and a joint fleet of military transporters as part of efforts later this year to boost the EU military, French defence officials said.
The fate of other French proposals for closer defence co-operation was unclear after the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.
France takes on the presidency of the EU in two weeks and President Nicolas Sarkozy has flagged that he sees bolstering Europe's defence capacity as a precondition for a return to Nato's military structures after a four-decade absence.
Aides close to defence minister Hervé Morin said negotiations with Britain were well advanced on creating a European naval group based around either a French or British aircraft carrier permanently at sea.
Other nations could then contribute frigates, submarines or refuelling vessels as required, the aides said.
Separately, Paris wants to fill long-standing gaps in air transport that have dogged European military operations by creating a fleet of the A400M heavy airlifter aircraft which defence group EADS will roll out later this month.
The project would operate on a timeshare basis, allowing states to buy operational hours as required, a Morin aide said.
In Berlin, a government spokesman said Germany was prepared to consider proposals it expects French president Nicolas Sarkozy to unveil to create a European Union naval fleet.
There was already a joint Franco-British initiative for a fleet, and Germany could play a part in this, pending an assessment of the plans, he said. How large the fleet could be, or when it might be created, was impossible to say, he added.- (Reuters)