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By ROBERT WIELAARD Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union made a start Monday of forging a common security policy to bolster the 15-nation group's military clout after conflicts in Kosovo and Bosnia have shown Europe's dependence on the United States.

Still, the union's failure to get Russia to rein in its campaign in Chechnya showed how tough it is for West Europeans to project influence and power eastward.

For the first time in its 42-year history, the EU staged a joint meeting of foreign and defense ministers to debate how the union can acquire a security dimension that matches its economic strength.

``Europe is a long way from having the sort of capability that is required,'' British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told the EU ministers. ``If it wasn't already clear, Kosovo has emphasized we need to do more ... to shoulder the burden of European security.''

Britain proposed that the group create a rapid reaction force of 40,000 troops to be deployed as peacekeepers within 60 days to trouble spots on the EU's doorstep.

French Defense Minister Alain Richard said the EU must become able to prevent crises, plan military operations, send forces into trouble spots and maintain them there without American help. In Kosovo, for example, the overwhelming number of allied bombing raids were flown by U.S. aircraft.

Even though the EU has a total of 100,000 troops and hundreds of combat aircraft, the Europeans were unable to conduct the military campaign against Serbia without the U.S. military, Richard said.

``Our problem is not too much America, but too little Europe,'' said German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, who urged EU nations to create a defense force that could effectively respond to crises by 2002 or 2003.

The issue is expected to figure prominently on the agenda of a Dec. 10-11 EU summit meeting in Helsinki.

Overshadowing the discussions was the war in Chechnya. Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Monday he would not bow to Western pleas to halt the offensive ``as long as a single terrorist remains on our territory.''

In a statement, the EU repeated its concern about civilian suffering and again urged Moscow to stop the attack, open talks with Chechen authorities and allow international aid to some 350,000 refugees displaced by the fighting.

Wary of souring an already tenuous relationship, the EU made no mention of economic or other sanctions against Russia. Although they are usually the first weapons the EU uses, sanctions are ``not the miracle solution,'' said Finnish Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen, who chaired the meeting.

The ministers named ex-NATO chief Javier Solana head of the Western European Union, a long dormant military group the EU plans to transform into its defense arm. That appointment came a month after the Spaniard was named EU foreign policy czar