European defence ministers approved Tuesday a report urging EU member countries to boost investment and cooperation in military research or face falling behind.

The ministers, meeting in Levi, northern Finland, said the report by the European Defence Agency (EDA) was a "solid basis" to build on in the future, an official with the EU's Finnish presidency said.

The report outlines the EU's defence challenges, noting that future operations will probably be multinational and use many technologies and often be waged against opponents whose tactics and aims will be very different.

"This fascinating document offers planners, working their way through the fog of the future, a shared and stimulating analysis of some of the major trends that will shape that future," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who heads the agency.

"Given the lead times typically involved in developing defence capability, decisions we take, or fail to take, today will affect whether we have the right military capabilities, and the right capacities in Europe's defence technological and industrial base, in the third decade of this century."

The "long-term vision" report underlines that spending in defence research and development in the United States is six times that of the European Union.

It said that only long-term investment and consolidation in what is a fragmented sector can save European defence contractors merely serving as a "niche industry" for the US military establishment.

Emphasis was placed on the need for "intelligent" weapons, but also arms which are more powerful, silent and accurate, while troops would need to deployed rapidly and in a decisive way.

The report, and its acceptance by the ministers, is in no way binding.

The EDA was established in July 2004, to help EU countries improve their defence capabilities and shape Europe's security and defence policies.