DEFENCE: FRANCE, GERMANY, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG STRIKE OUT AS PIONEERS.

The four government leaders are intent on not living up to the anti-US caricature of their approach, as depicted by their detractors in London, Madrid and Rome. Nor do they want the Iraqi crisis to colour the debate, as each of the participants in the mini summit was determined to distance themselves from Washington before the war got underway. Guy Verhofstadt recalled that his initiative dated back to July 2002, well before the first speculation about war began. The first part of their joint declaration stresses that the transatlantic partnership is still a key strategic priority for Europe. It also highlights all the stages subscribed to by the 12 Member States, now 15, since the Maastricht Treaty with a view to developing a common foreign and defence policy. This aim now forms part of the EU's legislative achievements, as reflected in the Accession Treaty for the 10 Member States-to-be. Jacques Chirac derived some satisfaction from listing all the major progress made with Europe's defence policy. The United Kingdom has had a hand in promoting the policy in co-operation with France from their bilateral summit in Saint-Malo in 1998,up to Le Touquet summit last February.

The four leaders first set their sights on the European Convention, where the future European constitution is being mapped out, particularly its foreign and defence policy. Apart from initiatives already under discussion, such as the mutual solidarity clause, creating a European armaments agency or a military academy, the four leaders urged the development of an avant-garde: a European Security and Defence Union. Those rallying around this Union would undertake to boost their defence budgets, do more to pool their resources and take part in industrial armaments programmes, along the lines of the A400M military transport aircraft template. The second line of attack is a more prickly matter: it is focused on the procedures for joint...