France to push for intervention force created by EU big six
French president Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading an initiative to create an elite defence force made up of the six EU biggest states - France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland. French MP French MP Pierre Lellouche, a spokesman on defense for Mr Sarkozy recently presented the idea and conditions for countries to join the defense "hard core" group in the French daily Le Figaro. It is envisaged that the six countries would adopt common rules for reinforced co-operation, such as spending a minimum of two percent of their GDP on defense, join a common defence equipment market and provide 10,000 troops for an intervention force. Moreover, the elite group would commit to carry out joint security anti-terrorism projects, as well as defence infrastructure program, such as missile defense or space and intelligence technology.
According to the Brussels weekly European Voice, Paris aims to launch the initiative in 2009, after the new EU Lisbon treaty has been ratified in all member states.
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