EPA EU launches naval mission in Mediterranean Europe is responding to the rise in people attempting the crossing from Libya to Europe.

The EU on Monday launched an unprecedented naval mission in the Mediterranean to police human traffickers attempting to take migrants from Africa to Europe.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg approved the first phase of EUNAVFOR Med, part of Europe’s response to a spike in the number of people attempting the crossing from Libya to Europe, which has cost about 2,000 deaths already this year.

“The EU has never taken the issue of migration as seriously as we are doing now,” said Federica Mogherini, the Union’s foreign policy chief. “With this operation, we are targeting the business model of those who benefit from the misery of migrants.”

Mogherini added that the new mission is part of a broader strategy that includes cooperation with African countries and the UN to “contribute to save lives, dismantle the networks of the smugglers of human beings and address the root causes of migration.”

The three-phase operation will begin with intelligence gathering via sea patrols which, since they will cover international rather than Libyan territorial waters, do not require a green light from the United Nations.

“We will operate with ships, air surveillance, drones and satellites to collect information on the human traffickers in Libya,” a senior EU official said.

A second phase will include “boarding, search, seizure and diversion” of vessels in Libyan waters.

About 10 countries are expected to take part in phase one of the mission, among them Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Lithuania and probably also Finland. But not all of them will provide military staff or equipment. On Friday, a conference call was held between the chiefs of staff from EU states to agree on the military contribution. German sources said their country will send two ships.

The second phase, which includes the “boarding, search, seizure and diversion” of vessels in Libyan waters, would require the backing of the UN Security Council. The U.K., France, Spain and Lithuania are currently drafting a UN resolution in New York.

EU finance ministers on Friday approved a Commission proposal to boost EU resources to manage migration and refugee flows, with additional funding of €89 million for Frontex, the Internal Security Fund and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

This fund, which finances Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s plans for introducing a mandatory relocation system for asylum seekers in Europe, already has a budget of €3.1 billion for 2014-2020.

Juncker wants to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece to other member states with compensation for those refugees of €6000, which will be financed from the fund.

The Council said this will not represent an extra cost to member states as it comes from unused funds such as the Galileo satellite navigation project.