EU sets new paramilitary force for 2005

The European Union launched a new paramilitary force yesterday designed to help restore public order to regions emerging from conflict such as the Balkans and beyond.

Defence ministers from five EU countries, meeting in the Dutch seaside resort of Noordwijk with counterparts from the 25-member bloc, said it would be modelled on the Italian carabinieri or French gendarmes and be operational by end-2005.

"This force is aimed at the transition between a military operation and a civil one," said French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, signing a statement of intent on the force with counterparts from Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

"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," she said.

The new force, dubbed the "European gendarmerie", is not intended for conflict zones such as Iraq, but for countries recovering from war such as Bosnia, where the EU will take over peacekeeping from Nato in December.

Under the plan, the five founding countries will earmark a total 800 personnel from their existing forces to be deployed inside a month for peacekeeping, maintaining public order and other policing duties such as crowd control.

Other EU members will be invited to participate, but some countries with no national paramilitary forces ruled out any involvement.

"Germany will not take part," said German Defence Minister Peter Struck, adding Germany wanted to maintain its strict separation between the police and army.

The Noordwijk meeting will also focus on how the EU can make the most of stretched military capabilities with most European national defence budgets either stagnant or declining.

The EU was on track to take over peacekeeping in Bosnia from Nato, Dutch Defence Minister Henk Kamp said.

"We forsee no major obstacles for a smooth transition from Nato to the European Union. All ministers are committed to make this first major EU military operation a success," he said.

The EU as a whole spends less than half of what the United States spends on defence, but experts say its military capability amounts to only a tenth of what America gets for its money because of duplication and incompatible equipment.

Ministers held the first steering board meeting of the newly formed European Defence Agency (EDA), set up in July to help the bloc's states coordinate defence spending.

They will also discuss end-of-decade goals to establish up to nine rapid-reaction battle groups. Officials concede the plan to create units of 1,500 troops which can be deployed within 15 days is ambitious given the EU's limited capabilities.