BRITAIN is to commit more than 2,000 troops to a new 18,000-strong European Union army that will be deployed as a peacekeeper to the world’s trouble spots, write Adam Nathan and Nicola Smith.

Despite concerns within the military about overstretch, ministers will announce this week that at least one battle group will be ready by January.

They will also say the force will expand by 2007 to comprise a multinational force of up to 12 elite rapid-reaction battle groups — each with 1,500 soldiers. At least two of these groups will be ready to deploy at 15 days’ notice to humanitarian or peacekeeping emergencies, primarily in Africa.

Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines have been earmarked for the new force.

A British official said: “A commander could immediately draw on 1,500 troops who will be sitting in the barracks with their boots on, ready to go.”

The creation of the force was signalled earlier this year by Tony Blair following the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and comes only a week after Britons had to be evacuated from fighting in the Ivory Coast.

Although it is not envisaged that the battle groups would be deployed to the Middle East, they could have a role in supporting policing and the rule of law. An EU team is to visit Iraq within the next fortnight.

The force — which would comprise the rapid-reaction units in an EU army that supporters want to expand to 60,000 — is already prompting some concerns that it could duplicate the role of Nato.

Nicholas Soames, the Conservatives’ defence spokesman, said: “We believe the EU defence contribution should be under the Nato umbrella. Anything that undermines Nato is damaging. We will be studying the details but this sort of duplication is an expensive waste of time.”

Some Nato planners are concerned that the new force should not be used as a cheaper substitute for the alliance and insist that EU military units must be trained to Nato standards. “It is right to pose the political questions, but at the moment we do not need to sound the alarm bell,” said a diplomat at Nato HQ in Brussels.

Any deployment would require an emergency meeting of the EU’s council of ministers. Membership of a battle group would not be compulsory and individual nations would retain a veto over deployment.

Military command in the field would lie with the country with the biggest contingent. Britain, France, Italy and Spain will each provide one battle group made up solely of its troops, while Britain will share a second battle group with the Dutch. Seventeen EU countries have committed soldiers.

General Jean-Paul Perruche, French head of the EU’s military staff, said the creation of the battle groups was a “significant” development.

“It is the adaptation of the capabilities of Europe to the new context of crisis in the world. To be able to commit at short notice a significant trained force, to intervene in an emerging crisis ,” he said.

It has also been mooted as an attempt to encourage European countries to investment more in military capabilities. There is growing concern within Britain’s armed forces about their ability to meet their commitments after it emerged that more than £1 billion is to be cut from “frontline” forces.

Senior officers — including, it is believed, General Sir Michael Jackson, chief of the general staff — are concerned that it will leave the army without the funding needed for 1,000 soldiers, about 1% of its force.

• Commonwealth troops working in sensitive positions in the British armed forces have been told to adopt British nationality or lose their jobs. Some 8,000 Commonwealth troops work for the services and the ultimatum will affect those with access to sophisticated equipment and sensitive information, particularly in the special forces.

  The Ministry of Defence said: “There are various criteria that must be satisfied for personnel with access to sensitive material, one of which is nationality. The Home Office will fast-track dual nationality, but if they do not wish to take it we will endeavour to move them to another part of the service. We are not asking them to turn their backs on their countries.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating