The gathering comes after France invoked Article 42 of the EU Treaty, a mutual defence clause which obliges member states to aid a country which has become the target of armed aggression.
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A working meeting of the ministers, attended by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, will be accompanied by a discussion on the series of coordinated terrorist attacks that killed 129 people.
Malta could be asked to pool any resource it can in assisting France in its declared war against Islamic State (ISIS).
Jacob Westberg, Senior Lecturer in Security Policy and Strategy at the Swedish National Defence College said: “The article is relatively clear and says that states must contribute by all available means”.
“France would like to ask its European partners for their bilateral support in the fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria as well as increased military participation from member states in operational theatres where France is deployed”, an aide told AFP on condition of anonymity, using another Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State group.
She added that the bloc needed no further formality to move on with the assistance as the article in question did not require any formal decision to be taken.
The French minister said the EU’s support was a “political act of great significance”.
At a meeting of defence ministers of the European Union member states in Brussels on Tuesday, Le Drian tweeted that he had just invoked Article 42.7, the Guardian reports. “This calls for aid and assistance bilaterally”, Mogherini said.
The Financial Times reported Monday evening that European Union officials believe that the article’s invocation “will have little substance impact” because unlike NATO’s collective defence clause in – where an attack on one ally is an attack on all – the EU Treaty “taps into no common defence infrastructure”. It has only been invoked once, by the US after the 9/11 attacks.
Following Le Drian’s request on Tuesday, Jensen said that other European nations should take the lead in coming to France’s aid and combating Isis.
France has not invoked the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation mutual defense clause, which declares that an attack against a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member is an attack against all allies.
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Hollande will meet U.S. and Russian presidents, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, “to join our forces and reach a conclusion that has been too long overdue”.
