The defence ministers' meeting was their first since Briton Catherine Ashton took over as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy under its Lisbon reform treaty, and was attended by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"It's quite rich that this morning, at the first meeting of defence ministers after the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, that when we talked of the relationship between the EU and NATO, the NATO secretary-general was there and not the high representative," Morin said at the meeting in Palma de Majorca.
EU officials said Ashton was in Kiev for Thursday's inauguration of President Viktor Yanukovich. They made no further comment.
Since EU leaders selected her last November, Ashton has faced criticism for her perceived slowness to react to the Haiti earthquake and for what is seen as a lack of experience.
Another French official, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, was quoted by media last month as making critical comments about Ashton, and French media have been critical of her. Barnier later expressed confidence in Ashton.
Ashton also faced pressure this week to explain why the bloc had appointed an ambassador to Washington without member states being widely consulted.
France has long been a champion of an expanded EU role in defence, while Britain has placed more emphasis on the role of NATO, the Western military alliance that includes 21 EU countries.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
