Jun 17, 2008, 11:26 GMT
Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday called for the establishment of a European intervention force of 60,000 soldiers.
In a major defence address in Paris before some 3,000 French soldiers, Sarkozy called for a 'modern, flexible' European rapid intervention force that will enable Europeans 'to act together' and which can be deployed anywhere in the world for at least one year.
Sarkozy has made European defence a priority of France's EU presidency, which begins on July 1. But he postponed the defence speech for one week in deference to the Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty, which was rejected last week.
Sarkozy also urged Europe to revitalize its defence industry, in part through the establishment of large armaments producers capable of competing globally.
'There is no other choice,' Sarkozy said, and noted that the US defence industry was six times larger than Europe's.
He vowed that 'the French EU presidency will be a veritable relaunch of European defence for the years to come.'
The French president also reiterated his previously articulated wish to have France rejoin NATO's integrated military command, which it left in 1966.
'I want the Alliance to be more European, and how can we have a more European Alliance without France?' Sarkozy said.
In presenting a new White Paper on the new French defence doctrine, Sarkozy also announced that the French army would be smaller and more mobile in the future, and that 54,000 military posts would be cut from the current 330,000 within six or seven years.
For the period 2009 to 2020, the state would earmark 377 billion euros (585 billion dollars) to the French military, he said.
Sarkozy also vowed to increase investment in intelligence operations and fields, with funds for space-based military and surveillance doubled, to 760 million euros, by 2020.
France's new defence strategy, Sarkozy said, was based on the fact that France faced new types of threats.
'The immediate threat is that of a terrorist attack ... using radiological, chemical and biological means,' he said.
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