This sounds like another version of the "Coalition of the Willing" with an EU twist.
NATO is feeling the pinch as the UN and EU both dip into the same resources to fulfil defence obligations leaving the military alliance thin on soldiers.
"We are having problems providing troops for all the NATO, EU and UN missions," said NATO spokesperson James Appathurai, according to Austrian daily Der Standard.
The problem has worsened in recent years as both NATO and the EU try to maintain rapid response forces.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is supposed to be kept at a level of 25,000 soldiers. The EU, meanwhile, has 19 of its own 'battle groups' - groups of 1,500 soldiers that can be deployed to the world's hotspots at short notice.
But most EU member states are also NATO member state meaning that they make the same troops available for both organisations.
And given the choice, who wins out?
"Soldiers that are active for the EU will be missed by us and vice versa," a NATO official told Der Standard.
"And in a crisis. To whom do the soldiers then really belong? The EU will lose out," the official added.
Anyone else sense a new effort to 'adjust' EU policy regarding the military forthcoming?
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