Javier Solana, the so-called "High Representative" of the EU -- in effect its foreign policy supreme -- is working on the command structure and seeking to ease the worries of countries like Turkey, currently in NATO but not in the EU, that they will be squeezed out of future decisions on European security.

CNN: Europe bites bullet with defence force

The treaty - formally passed at the end of 2009 - created the position of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs to oversee the EU's foreign affairs responsibilities.

BBC: Security and Defence Committee

It created the External Action Service, which is the EU's diplomatic corps, established at its head the post of high representative for foreign affairs and abolished the merry-go-round of foreign-policymaking by EU presidencies that formed new sets of priorities every six months.

ECONOMIST: Letters