AFP, LUXEMBOURG: EU foreign ministers formally approved yesterday the launch of the first phase of a military operation to target people smugglers in the Mediterranean, officials said.
The initial ships and aircraft to conduct intelligence gathering missions should be available within a week, officials said.
EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said the 28-nation bloc had responded quickly to the crisis washing up on its southern shores.
"I am impressed by the unanimity and speed with which we have put this together," Mogherini said as she arrived to chair the foreign ministers meeting.
The decision comes after serious differences among member states over how to handle the thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, with Italy, Greece and Malta bearing the brunt of the burden.
The loss of up to 800 people in April when their rickety boat sank forced the issue after the bloc late last year had actually scaled down its search and rescue operations off southern Italy to Rome's dismay.
EU leaders agreed at an emergency summit overshadowed by the disaster to formulate a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem at source, including a military option to go after the people traffickers working out of Libya. The first phase of intelligence gathering is meant to be followed by active intervention to board and disable smuggler vessels and arrest the traffickers.
A third phase would extend these actions into Libyan territorial waters and possibly inside the country itself -- a major and potentially dangerous commitment that some member states are reluctant to take on.
To meet their reservations, the April summit agreed that advancing to Phases 2 and 3 would require a UN Security Council Resolution and agreement from Libya where rival factions are fighting for control and the internationally-recognised government has fled Tripoli to take up residence in Benghazi.
Mogherini recalled that the EU is doing everything possible to broker an accord between the Libyan factions on a government of national unity but progress appears limited.
Russia, a permanent and veto-wielding UNSC member, has made clear it wants to see Libyan consent before any resolution is passed.