The European Union launched a new paramilitary force today aimed at tackling post-conflict tensions in regions such as the Balkans.
In a further bid to establish the bloc as a serious military player, EU defence ministers also pledged to set up at least nine "battle group" forces deployable within 10 days to full-blown crisis spots from 2007.
"The EU is showing itself to be ... getting more and more efficient and allowing Europe to really exist as a player in defence," French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said after talks with EU counterparts in the Dutch town of Noordwijk.
Modelled on the Italian carabinieri or French gendarmes, the new paramilitary force will be operational from next year and comprise 800 officers drawn initially from France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
Dubbed the "European gendarmerie", it is not intended for conflict zones such as Iraq, but for maintaining public order in countries recovering from war such as Bosnia, where the EU will take over peacekeeping from NATO in December.
"Coming out of a crisis, there is always a delicate period before police can take over again where there is the possibility of sudden and great violence," Mr Alliot-Marie said.
The ministers also held the first top level meeting of the new European Defence Agency, created in July to help the bloc's states coordinate defence spending.
"Europe is becoming stronger in defence, not by throwing more money or people into the army but by making better use of the resources we have," German Defence Minister Peter Struck said.