The European Union is drawing up plans for a "Euro-Pentagon" in Brussels commanded by a defence chief able to launch military operations anywhere in the world.
The proposals call for an EU defence secretary with responsibility for running operations.
His staff would be able to draw on an autonomous EU command and control nexus and an intelligence agency with satellite capability.
They are to be published today by the defence working group of the Convention on the Future of Europe. They will form the basis of the military section in the EU's draft constitution next June.
The group was chaired by the French commissioner Michel Barnier, who has been accused of playing down contributions from those opposed to a European army.
British objections appear to have been ignored in the final draft, though footnotes allude to intense disagreements among the group's members.
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