13/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - Foreign Ministers of the European Union meeting in Brussels on Monday approved the operational concept for the future EU-led Althea mission, the CONOPS, which is to take over from NATO in Bosnia-Herzegovina by the end of the year. CONOPS is the first stage of Althea military planning and sets out a general framework of aims, military tasks and the conduct of operations. Now that CONOPS has been approved, the EU can begin to develop the OPLAN, the operational plan for the Althea mission, to be adopted in October.