The proposed plan involves military operations to be conducted in Libyan territorial waters to destroy smuggler boats, in an attempt to curb the flow of undocumented migrants to Europe via the Mediterranean, decreasing the number of deaths at sea.
On May 11, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on the United Nations to approve an EU-drafted set of measures including military action, to dismantle criminal groups smuggling refugees in the Mediterranean and in Libyan territorial waters.
"Today the main point will be taking the decision to establish the operation, the EU operation at sea to dismantle the criminal networks that are smuggling people in the Mediterranean," the BBC quoted EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini as saying Monday.
Europe is currently experiencing a rapid increase in undocumented migration via maritime channels. Correspondingly, the number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea has increased dramatically.
The most recent high-profile tragedy occurred in April, when a boat carrying some 900 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea while heading from Libya to Italy, resulting in the deaths of almost everybody aboard, with only 28 rescued.
