22/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting in Brussels of the New Defence Agenda of Forum Europe, CDU member Karl von Wogau MEP proposed a two-stage plan for European defence. Thus, according to him: - by 2004, the EU should have some 5,000 troops available, twenty-four hours a day, for rescue operations throughout the world. "The protection of European citizens in crisis regions is a reasonable task the European Union can indeed allow itself", commented Von Wogau, noting the delay in implementing the Helsinki Headline Goal (a rapid intervention force); - by 2009, it should be in a position to conduct, with its allies or autonomously, an operation of a scale and intensity as those prosecuted in Kosovo. Between now and then, the Union should tackle its shortcomings, notably in matters of strategic transport and intelligence, the MEP emphasises, noting that the Airbus 400M will only be ready from 2008, and that the development of the Galileo satellite navigation system by 2008 and that the GMES initiative should play an essential role in crisis management and prevention by the Union.