EU to aim for rapid deployment force without U.S. help by 2025, document says

FILE PHOTO: Members of the EU-Battlegroup wait for Austrian Defence Minister Norbert Darabos as he visits their barracks in Mautern about 60 kilometres (38miles) west of Vienna May 11, 2012. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops by 2025 to intervene in a range of crises and without relying on the United States, according to a draft plan.

The "EU Rapid Deployment Capacity" should be made up of land, sea and air components that could be swapped in and out of any standing force, depending on the crisis, according to the confidential 28-page document dated Nov. 9 and seen by Reuters.