The resolution comes several days after a boat with migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea claiming the lives of between 800-900 migrants, according to the United Nations.
The draft resolution voted on by 88 parliamentarians on Thursday calls on European member states to adopt a comprehensive approach to deal with migratory flows across the Mediterranean, including strengthening search and rescue operations at sea, burden-sharing in Europe to combat human traffickers and smugglers, and stepping up humanitarian aid.
"We cannot simply open up our countries to all of those who are driven from their homes," French politician Thierry Mariani said, urging European countries to increase efforts to counter the extremely poor quality of life of migrants and refugees.
Mariani, who chairs the PACE Committee on Migration, stressed that Mediterranean countries do not always receive the necessary assistance from EU countries that do not border the sea.
Swedish lawmakers urged the European Union to boost efforts to help refugees by providing accommodation within Europe and increasing humanitarian aid directly to the troubled regions.
"We need to do more to support the peace process in Libya," a Swedish parliamentarian Tina Ghasemi said.
In the debate preceding the draft resolution adoption German lawmaker Frank Schwabe said that European countries must relieve poverty and provide humanitarian aid in the troubled areas of the Middle East and North Africa "so that people stay where they are."
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the main routes for migrants fleeing conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East for Europe. The number of asylum-seekers has recently increased dramatically, due to a rise in violent military conflicts in the region.
According to the estimates of the International Organization for Migration, at least 1,727 migrants have died at sea since the beginning of 2015, a number 30 times as high compared to the same period in 2014.
