European Union leaders pledged to fast-track the establishment of an EU border and coast guard force at a summit where they again urged each other to implement measures agreed this year to curb migration across the Mediterranean.
By the middle of next year, they decided at a summit on Friday, they would agree the details of the new border force proposed by the EU executive earlier this week.
Some leaders, including Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, made clear, however, that they wanted to strike out a controversial element of the proposal that would give Brussels power to send in EU border guards without a country's consent.