French president François Hollande has expressed support for Germany's call for a common European policy on asylum, reports Deutsche Welle.
He also echoed Angela Merkel's condemnation of the anti-refugee violence in Heidenau in eastern Germany.
Speaking prior to his meeting with German chancellor Merkel in Berlin on Monday, Hollande said that the current wave of migration from conflict areas in the Middle East into the European Union, required a coordinated response by the 28-member bloc.
"We must put in place a unified system for the right to asylum," Hollande told reporters. He also described the influx into the EU from places like Syria and northern and western Iraq "an exceptional situation that will last for some time."
"Rather than wait, we should organise and reinforce our policies, and that is what France and Germany are proposing," Hollande said.
Chancellor Merkel had first drawn attention to the need for a common EU policy on refugees more han a week ago, before her deputy chancellor, economy minister Sigmar Gabriel, and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the idea part of a 10-point plan, which was published in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday.
Merkel and Hollande also called on the EU to agree on a common list of "safe countries of origin," something that is meant to help speed up the return of migrants not in need of protection from conflict or political persecution.
The French president also echoed Merkel's condemnation of the right-wing violence that occurred outside of a shelter for asylum seekers in Heidenau in eastern Germany over the weekend, saying that there was no circumstance so grave as to "justify these acts."