France, Britain and Germany presented joint proposals on Tuesday for the European Union to create military battle groups for short-notice deployments to crisis spots around the world.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said the idea emerged from a summit of French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London last November and Germany had since joined the project.
"The aim is for the European Union to be capable to respond to requests by the United Nations," he said.
"It involves units of 1,500 men that can be deployed within 15 days for a maximum duration of 30 days, responding to a crisis which could for example be connected to the failure of a state - hence being capable to respond to a UN request."
Diplomats said the most likely use would be to restore order or stabilise a crisis zone and fill a crucial gap of up to three months until a UN peacekeeping force can be deployed, as a French-led EU force did in Bunia, eastern Congo, last year.
A senior diplomat said Europe's three main military powers presented a joint working paper to the EU's Political and Security Committee, setting a target date of 2007 to have the new units up and running.