Michael Howard has warned that the European Union must not become a "rival" to the US.

The Conservative leader's call came in a speech on Wednesday night, hours ahead of a visit to the UK by the French leader.

President Chirac has often set out his vision of the EU as an alternative "pole" of power to that of America.

But Howard launched an attack on that position in his speech to the Chatham House think tank.

"One of my worries is that for some people, the main motive for greater political union in Europe is to establish a rival to the United States," he said.

"I don't want rivalry. I want partnership."

And after reports of divisions between the Tory leader and the Bush administration over Howard's criticisms of the way Tony Blair handled the Iraq war, there was also support for the Bush doctrine of "pre-emption".

"Pre-emption is a reality in today's world. We must always be sure to use it wisely and within the limits of international law," said Howard.

"But international law must recognise the realities of the world we live in.

"It is also because of the threat of terrorism that we have a national interest in international peace and prosperity.

"Although one should always be very careful of a simplistic connection between terrorism and deprivation, it is reasonable to assume that the greater the extent to which the world is a peaceful and prosperous place, the less fuel there is likely to be for international terrorism."

Howard also agreed with President Bush that the promotion of democratic values across the world is "a worthy and important goal".

"Those values are not just about elections and the democratic institutions which flow from them," he said.

"They are also about the broader shared human values which underpin them.

"The right to representative governance is a human value which is not necessarily only found in western democratic models.

"The basic rights of free speech, of gender equality, of property, of religious freedom and of equality before the law are all human values which can and should be universally acceptable in a modern world.

"Indeed the common thread behind them all should be the rule of law."

The speech also called for action on Sudan and Zimbabwe, and emphasised a Middle East peace deal as "key" to tackling underlying tensions in the region.