BRUSSELS, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union gave the green light Monday for a 200-strong observer mission for Georgia, amid criticism that they will not deploy to rebel Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels adopted a 'joint action' and 'operation concept' allowing the monitors to be sent into Georgia and areas up to the two breakaway regions.

As they met, the European Commission announced 500 million euros (712 million dollars) in aid to help Georgia rebuild following its conflict with Russia.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, played down criticism of the EU-brokered peace plan that led to the mission's deployment.

'No peace document is ever perfect at first. Never, never, never. It is always a compromise that leaves bad tastes or bitter thoughts,' he said, but he underscored: 'This process has hardly begun.'

The observers are expected to be on the ground by October 1, paving the way for Russian troops to withdraw by October 10 to positions they held before striking at Georgia early last month.

France, Germany and Poland will be among the biggest contributors to the team, which will include police, justice, military and human rights experts. Few of them are expected to be armed.

The thorniest issue remains whether it will ever be able to deploy to the rebel regions. Georgia's attack early last month, aimed at retaking South Ossetia, sparked the military riposte from Russia.

Russia has since recognised both breakaway regions as independent -- only Nicaragua has followed suit -- and plans to keep troops there even after others withdraw from the rest of Georgia.

On Saturday, criticism grew within the EU ranks, with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht saying it might be better waiting until the security status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia becomes clearer.

'I would be more in favour of us holding off on our participation ... for six months,' he told La Libre Belgique newspaper, adding that it was important to 'know first where they are going to deploy.'

'If the Europeans cannot deploy in the security zone ... we are going to be obliged to protect borders that we have not recognised,' he said, because EU nations refuse to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini insisted Monday that the mission should be able to deploy everywhere in Georgia, but he also acknowledged that all parties must agree to this.

The peace accord 'must be fully applied with the maximum of ambition possible ... but we cannot become an occupying force,' he said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has said the mission will deploy 'in phases,' and 'will be deployed with the spirit that it can deploy everywhere' including rebel Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Solana said EU leaders had already condemned Russia's recognition of the two regions and that 'it is difficult to imagine' that the mission would go against that stance.

'We are doing something which is important,' he insisted.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: 'I don't think that the principle of (Georgia's) territorial integrity can be abandoned.'

A senior French diplomat said Friday that the EU hopes the issue of broader access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be resolved at international negotiations on their future security in Geneva on October 15.

But Kouchner confirmed Monday that those talks had been pushed back by a few days, as they clash with a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

The EU's 500 million euros in aid, meanwhile, will cover the 2008-2010 period, and help with reconstruction, resettling displaced people and revitalising the economy.