EU leaders are due to hold an emergency summit on ways to stem the number of people risking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.
Draft proposals for the meeting include offering 5,000 places for resettlement for migrants “qualifying for protection” under a pilot project.
More than 800 people drowned off Libya’s coast on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths this year to 1,750.
More than 21,000 people are estimated to have reached Italy this year.
Italian PM Matteo Renzi has called for direct action against people smugglers.
He described them as “the slave traders of the 21st Century”.
A draft statement for Thursday’s meeting in Brussels says leaders will commit to “undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers”.
It says EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini “is invited to immediately begin preparations for a possible security and defence policy operation to this effect, in accordance with international law”.
Other plans include supporting UN efforts to help form a stable government in Libya.
Italy says 90% of the migrant boats ending up on its shores set off from Libya.
EU leaders are also expected to discuss what to do with those migrants who reach Europe. A proposal for them to be spread out more equally among all EU states is a hugely divisive issue, our correspondent adds.
On Monday, the EU set out a 10-point action plan to prevent more deaths, including:
An increase in the financial resources of Frontex, the border agency which runs the EU’s Mediterranean rescue service Triton
An extension of Triton’s operational area
Deploying teams in Italy and Greece for joint processing of asylum applications
Fingerprinting of all migrants
The EU had been criticised over the scope of Triton, which replaced the larger Italian operation Mare Nostrum last year.
Some EU members had said Mare Nostrum was too expensive and expressed concerns that it was encouraging more migrants.
But human rights group Amnesty International said the decision to end Mare Nostrum had “contributed to a dramatic increase in migrant and refugee deaths”.
Some EU members had said Mare Nostrum was too expensive and expressed concerns that it was encouraging more migrants.
But human rights group Amnesty International said the decision to end Mare Nostrum had “contributed to a dramatic increase in migrant and refugee deaths”.
Source: BBC
