A leading defence academic has backed the government's claim that the EU is not working to create its own army.

As EU ministers meet in Brussels to formalise a commitment to pool troops Dr Peter Truscott, author of a report by the Institute of Public Policy Research on EU defence, told epxNews that an EU army is a myth.

"We are not talking about a European army. In future we will take part in a variety of operations as part of a multi-national organisation. This about a European rapid reaction force that will have a peace keeping, peace making role. It's about Europe becoming a more serious defence player," he said.

Truscott says Europe must agree a new policy in light of a growing American stance of non-intervention following the end of the cold war. "In Kosovo the US were very reluctant to say if they would commit ground troops if Milosevic didn't back down," he said. "This had a serious impact on the conflict but there is a reason behind this. Why should a country of 250 million people defend an industrialised block of 500 million people?"

He added: "The Americans are bound to scale back its European ground troops. There were 320 000 in 1989 and this is down to 100 000 today. Their eventual aim is to have a skeleton force to give logistical support with the European force doing a lot of the work on the ground. The nature of conflict has also changed into regional ethnic disputes that require a different response. We need a greater development of multi-purpose forces. Besides, British troops are already operating under a German general as part of a peace keeping force."

He denied the force would spell the death of NATO. "Talking about the end of NATO is a misnomer; the force will strengthen its European pillar. As Europe moves away from the needs of Empire its forces must adapt. The Americans have a global strategy including Europe. Their interest in places like Africa will increase as their involvement in Europe diminishes."

The diplomatic response to the Yugoslav crisis highlighted a related problem, believes Truscott. He said: "Certainly a lack of cohesion didn't help. Early recognition of Croatia by Germany showed it up. As well as strengthening forces there needs to be better cohesion on foreign policy. Europe needs to work on conflict prevention to stop situations like Kosovo spiralling out of control."

Truscott supported defence minister Geoff Hoon's claim that many European armies are years out of date. "He is right a number are simply not up to scratch. There is still a great disparity in the types of forces. Many are still primarily made up of conscript forces, they are top heavy and limited in their ability to deploy. Modernisation will cost, though. The UK military spending has changed a great deal thanks to the strategic defence review. France is now at the same level of defence expenditure as the UK but other countries are a long way behind. All the EU countries need to be spending two per cent of their GDP on defence development and procurement by 2030. For many members of the EU there is a lot of catching up to do."