Britain should support the development of European military capabilities along the lines put forward by the French presidency, Foreign Secretary David Miliband will say.
Mr Miliband will reject claims that greater EU defence co-operation would undermine Nato, and strongly welcome President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to bring France back into the trans-Atlantic alliance's integrated military structure.
The EU should be able to deploy soldiers from national armies where Nato is not engaged, as well as providing civilian experts to play a role in conflict prevention and crisis management alongside the military, he is expected to say.
In a speech in Westminster addressing Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Miliband will name security as one of three key areas - along with economic insecurity and the environment and energy - where the EU can deliver solutions to the problems faced by its citizens.
The Irish 'No' vote has "shaken the confidence of European leaders", he will acknowledge. And he will warn that they must not "turn a tin ear" to the concerns expressed by voters.
Instead, a "reinvention of the EU" should see the Union focus on its critical function of tackling major global threats to which there is no national solution, he will tell the thinktank Progress.
In a key passage, Mr Miliband will say that defence is one of these areas. He will insist that development of the EU's military capabilities "is not a threat to Nato".
In a speech setting out his defence plans last month, Mr Sarkozy insisted that French troops "will not be integrated into any supranational force", which is being seen in London as a clear indication that he does not envisage the creation of an EU army.
Mr Miliband will insist that Nato "is and will remain the cornerstone of European defence". And he will cite recent comments from Washington's ambassador to the alliance Victoria Nuland, who called for a "stronger, more capable European defence capacity" and said that a European security and defence policy relying on soft power alone "is not enough".
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Despite an early spat which saw Britain back European Commissioner Peter Mandelson in a row with Mr Sarkozy over world trade, Mr Miliband will say that the UK supports the agenda set out by the French president for his six-month stint at the head of the EU.
