11.   Iceland has in general opposed the planned European defence force.

12.   And he accepted that any concrete moves towards setting up an integrated European defence force were still years away, said the paper.

13.   As the two biggest military powers in Europe, Franco-British cooperation is seen as central to the prospects for a common European defence policy.

14.   But it added Britain had an interest in not being isolated in European defence matters when the Eurocorps force comes into full effect.

15.   De Charette added however that all EU states had to be part of a wider European defence strategy.

16.   The paper said the force could be an attempt by Britain, which is not part of the multi-national Eurocorps initiative, to avoid isolation in European defence matters.

17.   The new French policy preserves the aim of a European defence system, but more within NATO than outside.

18.   The sale has forced all big European defence groups to consider their strategies.

19.   The WEU is an exclusively European defence organisation, separate from NATO, but some of whose members are also in NATO.

20.   The WEU, based like NATO in Brussels, is the sole European defence body.