Health ministers from 27 European Union nations on Thursday failed to reach an agreement on a French call to temporarily ban all EU flights to Mexico, but they stressed coordinated approach to fight swine flu.

France urged the EU to suspend all flights to Mexico, the "zero ground" of swine flu where the deadly virus was believed to have killed more than 170 people and sickened over 2,500 others.

But the EU ministers didn't agree on the proposal, nor did they issue any travel warning against Mexico, as most of the countries have doubted the effectiveness of such a ban in containing the further spread of the flu.

Asked whether France would impose its own flight ban against Mexico, Czech Health Minister Daniela Filipiova said that she did not see the possibility that France would adopt such a "radical approach."

She stressed that "any (EU) reaction" to the disease "will continue to be a common one" and any actions taken among the 27 member nations "should be in a coordinated manner."

The ministers also called for cooperation at the international level.

They also agreed to cooperate "without delay" with the pharmaceutical sector to develop a pilot vaccine to treat swine flu and to step up sharing health information concerning the treatment and prevention measures of the disease.

They decided to establish a special expert committee that will meet regularly to coordinate national measures in fighting the flu.

The ministers voiced their solidarity with the most affected countries and declared their readiness to examine together with the Commission and in cooperation with the authorities of these third countries, the possible ways and means to provide assistance in the fight against this outbreak.

And they agreed that any such assistance would be coordinated with the EU's executive, the European Commission, and the governments of the countries concerned.