Migrant crisis: EU countries call for asylum reform

Italy, France and Germany have signed a joint document calling for a review of current European Union rules on granting asylum and a "fair" distribution of migrants within the EU, the Italian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The document says that the current migrant crisis has “clearly shown the limits and defects” of the rules on asylum and that they need to be re-assessed, the ministry said in a statement.

The document, signed by the foreign ministers of the three countries, calls for a “strong response to the crisis” that has seen a huge influx of migrants into the EU.

The three countries want it to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on September 4th-5th, the statement said.

Reuters