The Headline Goal was built upon an earlier bilateral Franco-British Joint Declaration adopted at St. Malo in December 1998.[3] The St. Malo Declaration said that the European Union ought to have the capability for “autonomous action backed up by credible military forces” as part of a common defence policy. The St. Malo Declaration laid the political foundation between France and the United Kingdom, which in turn facilitated the launch of the European Security and Defence Policy and the formulation of the Headline Goal.