SAINT MALO, France, Dec 4 (AFP) - Britain and France took a step toward "a new era" of European defense without America by signing a bilateral accord Friday to allow joint operations outside their territories and those of their NATO allies. The accord is seen as an example of the new bonding between Britain and France on the need to build a European defense arm.

In a symbolic highlighting of the event, the accord was signed on board a British destroyer, anchored alongside a French frigate off the picturesque walled city of Saint Malo on the western Brittany coast.

The signing took place during a two-day Franco-British summit during which Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac are expected to issue a statement of principle underlining their commitment to forging a new European security architecture.

Friday's letter of intent on cooperation in crisis management and operations states that the deal should "improve the operational capabilities which might be available in support of, and contribute to, the developing European Defense Identity."

"As we stand here today on the deck of HMS Birmingham we start a new era in British-French military relations," said British Defense Secretary George Robertson. "It is a significant day for both countries."

Robertson and his French counterpart Alain Richard said the accord marked a major and practical step toward strengthening Europe's defense capability. The agreement, said Richard, would allow "joint action when it is necessary in outside terrain."

The two defense ministers, at the heart of what is shaping up as a new partnership to give the European Union added muscle, stressed that cooperation in the field was "more than just words."

A visible sign of mutual defense cooperation is to emerge this month when troops from the two nations engage in Macedonia, at the head of a force also including German and Dutch soldiers. The so-called "extraction force" will be on standby, in the event of need, to rescue the 2,000 monitors in Kosovo working for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

It will be the first NATO operation to be commanded by France. "We Europeans need to play, and can play, a fuller role in contributing to our own security," Robertson said this week.

The letter of intent provides for the mounting of joint operations and cooperation in logistics, intelligence, civil/military affairs, personnel exchanges and media handling. It comes after Britain-in a significant shift last October-reversed its previous opposition to a "European defense identity."

A move in the direction of a joint defense arm would end years of frustrated efforts by the European powers to speak with a joint voice in military affairs and comes as the 15-nation E.U. prepares to launch its single currency in January.

At the center of the plan is a bid to enable Europeans to take action in regional crises, or missions in other parts of the world, where Washington is unwilling to commit troops. E.U. leaders have insisted the plan would in no way affect ties with NATO. But there is talk, on the other hand, of coming change for Europe's sole current defense arm, the 10-member Western European Union (WEU), long viewed as ineffective.

Talks earlier this month between 28 foreign and defense ministers from WEU, E.U. and NATO countries left unresolved a long-running debate over the institutional framework for a European defense arm.

Britain for one has insisted that European nations first tackle the nitty-gritty issues of building a proper European military capability before worrying about the institutional arrangements.

Addressing the WEU this week, Robertson stressed that European forces would not have had the military muscle to take on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo because of the lack of European airpower. "We need a defense capability that is fit for today's world," he said. "For all of us this means tough choices. Together we need to address questions of investment, prioritisation and the restructuring of our defense industries."