Critics say the half-day summit, an initiative by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, risks opening new rifts in both transatlantic and European ties.

But Verhofstadt told Belgium's RTBF radio his talks with French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker would yield "real and concrete advances".

"If we want to count on the world stage, if we want to avoid the divisions in the European Union that we saw in the Iraq crisis, it is absolutely necessary to have this European defence tool," he said.

"Otherwise, a European Union foreign policy is not credible."

SPACE.WIRE