European leaders agreed on a common defence strategy at the
Cologne Summit on 3 June 1999. The 15 Member States of the EU
formally decided to create a rapid reaction force (RRF) of 60,000
men at the Nice European Council in December 2000. Some progress
has been made in creating a military structure within the Council
of Ministers in 2001. The RRF should be operational from 2003 on,
concentrating on humanitarian relief, peace-keeping and
crisis-management tasks independently of NATO.