EU to draft first common security strategy

European Union foreign ministers agreed yesterday to draft the bloc's first common European security strategy in a bid to avoid future damaging diplomatic rifts like the Iraq crisis.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou announced the plan after ministers from 25 current and future member states debated European defence and strained transatlantic relations aboard a luxury cruise yacht moored on the Greek island of Kastellorizo.

"We all agree that, yes, there is a crisis or at least a problem in our transatlantic relationship," Papandreou said.

"We arrived at a very important proposal: that we should set up a European security concept. If we want to have a substantive discussion with the United States, we first and foremost have to agree what our own priorities are," he told a news conference.

The ministers mandated EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to produce a first draft before a summit in Greece in mid-June, as well as proposal for closer European defence integration and on EU co-operation with NATO's planned rapid reaction force.

The aim is to reach a common threat assessment of issues such as weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, failed states, regional conflicts and refugee flows, enabling Europe to anticipate future crises better and ultimately to have a joint doctrine on when the use of force may be appropriate.