The Commission is aware of the importance of the phenomenon referred to by the Honourable Member. There is, however, no current collection of statistical data at EU level on illegal maritime crossings. By their very nature, such crossings are impossible to be accurately recorded. The only data available from some Member States is on migrants intercepted while illegally attempting to cross the maritime external borders.

The following table (extracted from the impact assessment to the Commission Communication Examining the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (Eurosur)(1), provides the most recent data the Commission has on intercepted migrants; they cover the first part of the year 2007. The Commission has not yet received data from the Member States for the first months of 2008.

(1) COM(2008)68 final. (2) Including Ceuta and Melilla.