Just as Tony Blair was making clear his opposition to any move that could undermine Nato, the leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg decided at a summit in Brussels to set up a “multi- national deployable force headquarters” for non-Nato operations.

As he flew to Moscow to see President Putin, Mr Blair said that he hoped that “people realised the only basis upon which European defence could go forward is if it is fully compatible with our membership of Nato”. He landed to hear that the EU’s four leading opponents of the war with Iraq had already taken the first steps towards a defence policy that critics will see as a threat to Nato.

They hope that other EU members will rally behind the new policy. It aims increasingly to integrate national defence strategies and to establish a multinational force headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels next year to plan and conduct EU-led operations.

British officials with Mr Blair were “baffled” by the news from Brussels but wanted to see the details before making a full response.

The four leaders insisted that their plans to establish a European security and defence union should not be seen as anti-Nato or anti-American, but would instead give greater muscle to EU foreign and security policy.

“We want to make clear that this is not against Nato,” Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, said. “It will reinforce Nato as the European pillar will have a stronger position inside the organisation and it will reinforce the transatlantic alliance.”

The message was repeatedly echoed by his fellow leaders: President Chirac of France, Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian Prime Minister, who called for the mini- summit last month just as American and British Forces were launching their attack on Iraq. All four believe that their initiative will eventually lead to the formation of a European security and defence union containing as many EU countries as possible. They compared it to the support for a single currency by a small group in the early 1990s which eventually saw the birth of the euro a decade later.

But other EU members, notably Britain, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, which were not invited to the meeting, remain to be convinced and are suspicious of any development that might undermine the military alliance and relations with the United States.

Ana Palacio, the Spanish Foreign Minister, said this week: “A truly European security and defence policy cannot be achieved by three or four countries acting alone.”

Franco Frattini, her Italian counterpart, has also said that he would be critical of any defence initiative by a small group of countries that did not include “Europe’s premier military power”, Britain.

The success of the quartet’s initiative, which they insisted any present and future EU member was free to join, will depend on the backing it receives in other capitals and the reception it is given in the convention drafting a constitution for the EU.

The four-page declaration issued after the two-hour meeting lists several concrete initiatives to be implemented in the coming months. Some of these, such as developing a European rapid reaction force, delivering humanitarian aid faster and creating an EU nuclear, biological and chemical weapons protection capability, are already established Union targets. Others, such as introducing a European command for strategic air transport, devising joint training schemes for armed forces personnel, and creating a European agency to develop and acquire military equipment, have also been aired in recent months.

However, one departure is the proposal for a multinational deployable force headquarters that would be responsible for EU-led operations “without recourse to Nato assets and capabilities”.

M Chirac, referring to Nato’s military planning and command body, insisted that this would not become a “European Shape (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe)” but was designed to avoid wasteful duplication at national level.

However, while the new organisation would have to establish close links with Nato, some EU diplomats suggested that it might over time become a catalyst for developing an independent European stance.

Nato said yesterday that it welcomed any action that would strengthen the alliance’s European pillar, but an official added: “We remain concerned about how extra capabilities will be delivered without extra resources and about the risk of unnecessary duplication.”

Treaty that was born in Cold War

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on April 4, 1949, by 12 members — the United States, Britain, Canada, France (which later left), Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It has since been joined by Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, and will soon include Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The treaty commits all members to maintaining their defence capabilities and to come to the defence of other members if they are attacked. When the Cold War ended, Nato’s remit changed from one of collective self-defence to the creation of military stability in Europe.

Explore World News

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• The truth behind Obama's meteoric ascent
• Christians flee Iraq amid religious cleansing
• Aid agencies: 5m face starvation in Zimbabwe