EU SUMMIT: European Union leaders will today consider a European security strategy that calls for more spending on defence so that the EU becomes capable of mounting a number of military operations at once, including "robust intervention" when necessary. Denis Staunton in Porto Carras reports.
In a paper to be presented to the leaders this morning, the EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, will identify the most important security threats facing Europe and call for co-ordinated action to counter them.
The paper acknowledges that the US is in a dominant position as a military power but says that no single country can tackle today's problems alone.
"As a union of 25 states with over 450 million people producing a quarter of the world's Gross National Product (GNP), the European Union is, like it or not, a global actor; it should be ready to share in the responsibility for global security," it says.
The leaders are meeting in the Greek resort of Porto Carras, near the northern city of Thessaloniki. Some 16,000 heavily armed police officers and soldiers have been deployed to protect the summit from terrorist threat.
Mr Solana identifies the spread of weapons of mass destruction, failed states, organised crime and new forms of international terrorism as the most serious threats facing Europe and its partners. He calls for the EU to use "pre-emptive engagement" to prevent problems from escalating and suggests that rogue states should be encouraged to rejoin the international community.
"Those that are unwilling to do so should understand that there is a price to be paid, including in their relationship with the European Union," the paper says.
A source close to Mr Solana suggested the "price to be paid" could involve regime change.
But a senior Irish diplomatic source insisted the phrase referred to using EU trade and economic relationships to encourage compliance with international norms and played down the significance of proposals for the EU's Rapid Reaction Force.
"We are already running a number of operations at once and the operation in the Congo is a robust intervention," the source said.
The paper stresses the EU's commitment to "effective multilateralism" and to a rule-based international order with the UN at its centre. "If we want international organisations, regimes and treaties to be effective in confronting threats to international peace and security, we should be ready to act when their rules are broken," it says.
Mr Solana suggests that the EU should extend the zone of security around Europe by promoting "a ring of well-governed countries" to the east of the EU and on the borders of the Mediterranean.
"The best protection for our security is a world of well-governed democratic states. Spreading good governance, dealing with corruption and abuse of power, establishing the rule of law and protecting human rights are the best means of strengthening the international order," the paper says.