Prague  - The European Union does not plan to boost its counter-piracy mission off the Somali coast, designed to protect civilian ships passing through the Somali waters, EU defence officials said prior to their meeting on Thursday.

"I find that everything is going on well. It is sufficient," said British Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton.

The EU mission currently uses five frigates provided by Britain, France, Germany, Greece and Spain. Their chief task is to escort vessels from the World Food Programme through the waters off Somalia.

NATO, which deployed an anti-piracy mission in the Somalian waters from October to December before handing it over to the EU, agreed Wednesday to again send seven vessels to the area.

"The cooperation between NATO and the EU is now very deep," said EU's top diplomat Javier Solana, also present at the informal meeting.

But Solana shed no light on EU's plans to withdraw its 1,800- strong Althea peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I think we have to take a decision eventually that has to be done in consensus and I hope it will be done soon," he said. dpa