Brussels, 16/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The number of asylum requests in the EU has been falling since 2004, and the rate of fall increased in 2006, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra), which presented its 2006 report on Tuesday 13 March. France remains the favourite destination for asylum seekers: last year it received 26,269 new request (excluding accompanied minors) - a drop of 38.3%. According to figures obtained by Ofpra from the other EU countries, between 2005 and 2006, requests fell most sharply in Austria (with a drop of 40.6%), Germany (29.8%), Belgium (27%) and the United Kingdom (8%). However, asylum requests rose by 17.2% in the Netherlands, and there was a steep increase (38.7%) in requests in Sweden. (bc)