PARIS, Aug 5: French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have signed a joint statement declaring not only that France and Britain are seriously intent on bringing about creation of a pan-European defence force, but also that the new European defence capacity would now have to take into consideration the “strategic context” set in place as a consequence of the Sept 11 tragedy.

In a letter to Belgian Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, the two men noted that “we are determined to make progress” on the question of a European defence force, and that they demand a “stepped up effort” on the part of the other EU countries so that the bloc could eventually give itself a defence budget as important as that of the United States.

In their reply, Mr Chirac and Mr Blair said indeed that not only had they not lost interest in the idea, but also that they wanted to go beyond their original proposal that Europe give itself, by the year 2003, a rapid reaction force of 60,000 men which would be capable of deploying itself in less than sixty days to undertake a year-long humanitarian or peacekeeping mission.

The new force would also have to be redefined in terms of the Sept 11 attacks, noted Messrs Chirac and Blair.