France, Germany and Poland issued a joint call for the European Union to upgrade its military capabilities, documents showed on Monday.
In a letter dated December 6 and seen by the German Press Agency dpa, foreign and defence ministers from the three countries urged EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to take the lead on the matter.
"We need to give a fresh impetus to European Security and Defence Policy, in full complementarity to NATO. Your personal involvement in this endeavour is key," they told Ashton.
In concrete, the three countries called for beefing up planning for "civilian, civil-military and military operations and missions," improving military conduct capabilities and improving deployment capabilities of battlegroups, the EU's rapid-reaction forces which are provided on rotation by member states.
French, German and Polish officials also pleaded for closer ties between the EU and NATO, an objective that is shared by the Euro- Atlantic defence organization.
"We appreciate and strongly encourage you and the Secretary General of NATO to intensify cooperation," Ashton was told.
Signatories to the letter said the wished their initiative to produce "concrete results" in the second half of 2011, when Poland is scheduled to hold the EU's six-months rotating presidency.
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