Greece Aims to Energise Eu's Foreign and Defence Policies

Greece is to lead an effort to invigorate the EU's foreign and defence policies and coordinate national positions on Iraq when it takes over the union's presidency in January.

Unveiling plans for his country's six months in the rotating hot seat, George Papandreou, the foreign minister, said yesterday that Europe also needed to "reinvigorate" its dialogue with the US to forge a "common approach".

But with sharp transatlantic divisions over Saddam Hussein, Athens is likely to find it difficult to do more than paper over cracks in EU ranks if UN arms inspections give way to a US-led war.

Costas Simitis, the Greek prime minister, has acknowledged that the union, which often fails to speak with one voice on international issues, was "lagging behind" on the world stage.

Yesterday, he called for better coordination of Europe's defence industries to reduce reliance on the US.

Mr Papandreou pledged to ensure that the EU's enlargement went smoothly after the conclusion of negotiations at the Copenhagen summit.

The accession treaty sealing the membership of 10 new members - from Poland to Slovenia - is to be signed at a special ceremony at the Acropolis in Athens next April, though the newcomers will need to ratify it in national referendums.

Turkey, said the Greek minister, had a "very clear" chance of joining the club after being told that its progress towards meeting EU human rights criteria would be reviewed in December 2004.

Greece would also work hard to achieve a peace settlement in Cyprus, despite the failure of the island's Greek and Turkish communities to agree on a peace settlement.

In addition, Athens wants to advance the entry strategies of Bulgaria and Romania which are expected to join the union in 2007.

Other Greek presidency priorities are cracking down on illegal immigration into the EU and boosting competitiveness in the single market.

But Turkey seems likely to be the source of tensions during its stewardship. Greece is an enthusiastic supporter of Ankara, arguing that their prickly bilateral relations are more easily managed in the context of the EU.

Others still have their doubts about the Turks.

In Strasbourg yesterday, the EU commissioner for enlargement, Günter Verheugen, warned Turkey that it must completely stamp out torture before it can hope to begin negotiations.

"It is not sufficient for us to see that in law torture is prohibited," he told the European Parliament.