BBC | 14.09.2017
The claim: The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: „We have drastically reduced the loss of life in the Mediterranean,“ in his State of the Union speech to the European Parliament.
Reality Check verdict: The estimated number of deaths has gone down this year, but for those who make the crossing the risk of dying is greater in 2017.
Is it an accurate assessment by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker to claim that the European Union’s migration policies have „drastically reduced“ the number of people who drown while trying to cross the Mediterranean?
Obviously, it depends partly on how you define „drastically“.