The European Union launched a new paramilitary force 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," Ms 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 told reporters.
Defence spending in the EU as a whole is less than half that of the United States. But experts say its military capability amounts to only a tenth of what America gets for its money because of duplication and incompatible equipment.
The planned battle groups follow criticism that the EU is slow to come up with military resources when conflicts break out around the world.
They are intended to comprise air, sea or ground armies from single EU states or combinations of several countries.
Struck listed nine such groups already proposed, involving combinations such as a German-French-Spanish-Belgian troop, an Italian-Slovak-Hungarian force and a combination spearheaded by Sweden and Finland.
With most participants also Nato members, officials were anxious to reject suggestions the idea would divert resources from the transatlantic alliance.
"Nato and the EU know these countries are members of both (organisations) and wish to fulfil commitments to both groups," said Dutch Defence Minister Henk Kamp, suggesting there could be coordination between the battle groups and Nato operations.
Mr Kamp, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the European Union was on track to take over peacekeeping in Bosnia as planned in December.
"We foresee 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.