Brussels - Europe and the United States should push for international intervention in third countries to prevent conflict, a European Union briefing paper says.

The paper on future EU-US relations, drawn up by the French presidency of the EU, is due to be discussed by the bloc's foreign ministers Monday, the eve of the US presidential election.

It is intended to help the EU set up a "minimum common platform" of principles which each member state will use in dealing with the next US president, the text's preamble says.

"Current limits on external intervention (capacity, legitimacy) cannot be used as an excuse for inaction: we must take all our responsibilities, and start thinking about the problems of intervention and the articulation between the UN and regional organizations," the paper seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa reads.

The EU and US should therefore "work together within multilateral boundaries on a better consideration of the responsibility to protect - preferably in a preventative way," the document says.

As part of their efforts, the EU and US should urge rising powers such as China and India to "respect the rules of law based on common values" such as human rights, the text says.

"Our common message: global power involves global responsibilities which we must share to recruit the enthusiasm of emerging countries in a multilateral framework," it says.

In that context, the EU and US should work together to reform the international financial system and clubs of great powers such as the G8 and UN Security Council, it says.

In the Middle East, meanwhile, the EU should "look for full US engagement in the peace process from the start of the new president's mandate," with an emphasis on building a viable Palestinian state and boosting dialogue between Israel and the Arab world.

The EU and US should also support tentative peace initiatives between Syria and Lebanon and back the reconstruction of Iraq and the stabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan, it says.

And while they should be ready to increase their pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, they should also cooperate closely if the US decides to hold direct talks with Tehran.

"If it became necessary to re-open the dialogue between the US and Iran, it would be vital to set out how such a dialogue could complement our common approach," the paper says.

Finally, the EU and US should "make Russia understand that a policy of power would backfire on her" by helping the country develop a genuine market economy, holding it to arms-control agreements and offering Russia's neighbours "an alternative to the logic of the Russian 'sphere of influence'," it says. (dpa)