"If there are large forest fires, it is better to be four nations which mobilise than just one alone," he told a news conference in Lisbon after holding talks with his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa.

"Since the 25 members of the European Union do not move forward fast enough, we have proposed going ahead with four members," he added.

The four European Union nations will cooperate by sharing water-dropping aircraft and other equipment, jointly training specialists and harmonizing the organizational structure of their civil protection forces, Sarkozy added.

France, Italy and Spain have already held talks about the joint force, which could also be used in the event of floods and other national disasters.

The four southern European nations were hit by a drought last year which helped fuel summer wildfires.

Portugal was especially hard-hit: flames destroyed 325,226 hectares (803,600 acres) of forest and agricultural land last year and killed 16 people.

In neighbouring Spain 161,154 hectares of land were lost to fires, in France 22,400 hectares burned while in Italy 38,880 hectares were consumed by flames.

Sarkozy also said the so-called G6 group of EU nations could be expanded "to include all European nations that desire to move more quickly towards harmonization in the fight against terrorism, big criminal groups and illegal immigration."

The G6 is the brainchild of Sarkozy, who is tipped as a strong French presidential contender in 2007, and currently groups Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain.

The French interior minister called for the creation of a group of six EU nations last year to provide leadership for the crisis-hit bloc, which expanded from 15 to 25 members in May 2004.

Sarkozy heads to Spain on Saturday where he will meet with his Spanish counterpart Jose Antonio Alonso.

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