The Council of the EU agreed, on 27 February, to extend the mandate of EU NAVFOR Atalanta until December 2014. Launched in 2008, the EU operation aims at fighting piracy in the Horn of Africa, mainly off the Somali cost, protecting food aid shipment and monitoring fishing activities in the area. Its mandate was scheduled to expire in December 2012, after it had already been extended once in 2010. “The EU’s counter-piracy operation is conducted within the comprehensive approach as set out in the EU strategic framework for the Horn of Africa and as part of the overall international effort for Somalia,” a Council statement noted, as international leaders met in London last week to discuss the Somali crisis.