NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday urged the European Union to link huge swathes of its military operations to the transatlantic defence alliance. Rasmussen wants to build 'a true strategic partnership between NATO and the European Union,' to maximise operational capabilities in Afghanistan or the fight against high-seas piracy at a time of massively stretched public budgets, according to the text of a speech. 'NATO and the EU are two of the world's most important institutions. They share 21 members. They have complementary skills. And no other strategic partnership would offer so many benefits -- both operationally and financially,' Rasmussen is to tell an audience of policymakers at a Brussels conference. Claiming such a formal tie-in 'would be a major cost-saver,' Rasmussen argues that greater institutional cooperation 'would help to deliver the 'unity of effort' that is required for success in Afghanistan.' Rasmussen recently urged what he called a 'paper tiger' Europe to ramp up investment in a costly missile defence umbrella, echoing predecessors' efforts down the years at key points in the development of all significant defence projects. Wary of an economic straitjacket hitting defence spending, the Danish former prime minister has already urged allies to cut 'fat not muscle' amid a 'rationalisation' drive. According to NATO data, only five of the alliance's 28 member countries respected its minimum engagements to spend two percent of national output on defence in 2009: Albania, Britain, France, Greece and the United States, whose spending at 574 billion dollars easily dwarfed the others. In a letter to Rasmussen at the end of April, nine member countries called for a restructuring of NATO that would affect everything from its headquarters to its command structure. 