EU Foreign Ministers have asked the interim Iraqi government not to reinstate the death penalty.
The ministers made the request during a meeting with Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, in Brussels.
The new Iraqi government has not yet decided whether to reintroduce the death penalty, which was suspended under US occupation.
Mr Zebari is discussing how the EU can contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq with EU and NATO representatives.
Earlier, he said he would request help from NATO to train and equip Iraq's security forces. He also said that he would request economic aid from individual EU countries.
NATO leaders agreed at a summit last month to provide training for Iraqi security forces, but France and Germany objected to any official NATO presence in the country and said the alliance should only co-ordinate efforts by member states.
Filipino govt is set deadline
In a separate development, captors who are threatening to behead a Filipino lorry driver have given the Philippines government another 48 hours to agree to withdraw its troops from Iraq.
They had said they would kill Angelo de la Cruz yesterday unless Manila pledged to bring home its 51-strong contingent by next week.
The Philippines rejected the demand, saying that Filipino troops would leave Iraq next month as originally scheduled.
Meanwhile, two Bulgarian men also kidnapped in Iraq are reported to be still alive, despite the expiry of a deadline.
