Miliband signals support for French plans

LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign Secretary David Miliband sent a strong signal of support on Wednesday for French plans to strengthen Europe's defence policy, saying EU nations should be ready to deploy troops to trouble spots without waiting for

NATO.

In a speech coinciding with the start of the French EU presidency this week, Miliband said the two countries had much in common on energy, climate change, migration and European defence policies.

"The countries of Europe need to be better at using hard power. That is why I strongly welcome President (Nicolas) Sarkozy's proposals to reintegrate France into NATO's military structure and support his call for the EU to play a greater role in crisis management," Miliband told Progress, an independent organisation of Labour Party members.

While Britain has privately backed Sarkozy's European defence plans, it has not previously made such a strong public statement of support. It hopes to undermine the arguments of eurosceptics by discussing the issues more openly.

After the speech, Miliband dismissed any notion British troops would don EU uniforms or join a "European army".

"It's not a European army. There's no question of a European army. President Sarkozy is against a European army and so am I. What we are in favour of is British, French and other troops working together," he told Channel Four news.

In the speech, Miliband insisted a stronger EU defence capability would not undermine NATO and quoted a U.S. envoy to NATO saying Washington also wanted a stronger European defence capability to complement other alliances and forces.

"As the Balkans wars in the 1990s demonstrated, unless Europe can develop its own capabilities it will be consigned always to wait impotently until the U.S. and NATO are ready and able to intervene," Miliband said.

"This means a genuine role for the EU in conflict prevention and crisis management whether it is providing the civilian experts ... or deploying soldiers from national armies in roles where NATO is not engaged," he said.

While France may have to scale down some of its goals for its six-month EU presidency, getting support of the bloc's other military heavyweight for its defence plans was seen as crucial.

The two agree on pooling hardware such as helicopters and ships to help each other on operations but London has resisted creating a new European military headquarters and operational command issues need to be resolved, diplomats say.

However British officials say current French defence proposals have shifted from earlier plans and there is now no mention of an operational headquarters.

Miliband said the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty showed EU governments should listen to voters and some areas, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, should be reformed.

(Writing by David Clarke, editing by Mary Gabriel)