Germany, France Agree on Need for Mandatory Quotas to Distribute Migrants in EU

Germany and France have agreed that the European Union must set binding quotas for the number of migrants that each member state takes in to tackle a migrant crisis showing no signs of abating, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Switzerland's capital of Bern, Merkel said that Bonn and Paris have agreed that the EU should adhere to the basic principle of granting protection to those who need it, according to AFP.

"I spoke this morning with the French president, and the French-German position, which we will transmit to the European institutions, is that we agree that ... we need binding quotas within the European Union to share the burden. That is the principle of solidarity," Merkel said.

The French presidency also said that Germany and France would send joint proposals to the European Commission for "a fair distribution" of refugees in Europe and for strengthening the European system of granting asylum.

The German Chancellor spoke a day after Italy's foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said that he and his counterparts from Germany and France have signed a joint letter calling for an urgent review of the laws governing the right of asylum in Europe.

Highlighting what they described as shortcomings and defects of the existing asylum system in Europe, Gentiloni, Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier and France's Laurent Fabius insisted that "Europe must protect refugees in need of protection in a humane way - regardless of which EU country they arrive in".

France, Germany and Italy want their letter to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign minister in Luxembourg, to be held on Friday and Saturday.