EUROPEAN CONVENTION: FRANCO-GERMAN 'AXIS' IN JOINT DEFENCE PROPOSALS.

The EU needs to develop a "global vision" in the face of "global threats" to its security, encompassing a "wide range" of methods including judicial and police co-operation, economic and financial instruments, civil protection and military means. To this end, the possibility for member states to develop closer, "reinforce co-operation" should be written into the EU Treaty. This is according to joint Franco-German paper on security and defence policy submitted to the Convention on the future structure of the Union. Among the proposals is the introduction of a passage on "solidarity and common security" in a revised EU Treaty, with a political declaration attached as an annex identifying the potential risks, such as terrorism. The European Security and Defence Policy should thus become a true "European Union of Security and Defence", reinforcing the European pillar of NATO.

The objective, according to France and Germany, is to allow as much flexibility as possible in decision-making . It would, they say, be preferable for all EU Member States to take part in their new vision of an EU defence policy, but "in certain situations", it is accepted...