EU foreign ministers have agreed to look at a joint European mission to the Central African Republic when they next meet in January.
They would be supporting a UN-backed French military presence of around 600 troops.
President Francois Hollande told a news conference on Friday that several European countries had offered to help.
“There is a major point which has been obtained: other European countries will participate in the fast action African force. This means that if we succeed in the future, France will have no further need to intervene as we were obliged to do in Mali and in Central African Republic”.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said that the death toll is greater than previously reported with war crimes and human rights abuses being carried out by both Christians and Muslims.
