European Union nations have agreed a strategy to foster the defence and security function of the organisation.
The strategy envisages greater coordination in places like EU-led peacekeeping missions.
Nevertheless, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stressed that create an European military or the bloc didn’t mean to compete with Nato.
She added the strategy was before the success in US presidential elections of Donald Trump.
During the campaign, Mr Trump indicated that Washington may not automatically come under attack to the assistance of a Nato ally, criticising low levels of defence spending.
Ms Mogherini said the EU and Nato wouldn’t be competing but instead would reinforce the alliance, and nor would it be creating a military headquarters or an EU army.
What it’d seek to do would be to supply much-greater coordination in places like peacekeeping missions to African nations, naval attempts to reduce refugee flows, and defence research and spending on things like choppers and drones by EU states, she said.
The purpose of all these was to make its citizens and the EU abroad and safer at home in a unsure world, Ms Mogherini included.
But it’s been given additional impetus by the warnings of Mr Trump he anticipates Europe to pay more of the statements for its defence, our correspondent adds.
He says that the strategy has been also fostered by Brexit, because the UK has blocked such Franco-German initiatives to give a greater security measurement to the EU.
