Merkel and Macron set for crunch talks in DESPERATE bid to unify EU amid migration row

The French President will arrive in Germany today to talk with the German leader about eurozone reform.

The ministerial meeting, held at a castle north of Berlin is seen as crucial to the leaders achieving a consensus before a key EU summit at the end of this month.

However, the talks are overshadowed by the migration crisis as recent events have threatened the EU’s stability.

Last week, Italy threatened the Brussels bloc’s stance on the issue when it refused for a ship carrying 630 rescued migrants to be allowed to dock on the country’s coast.

A week later, it was agreed the ship could arrive in Valencia, Spain.

Ms Merkel has struggled with migration policy for some time, and it is widely attributed as being responsible for her disastrous performance in last year’s German election.

She is facing a showdown with one of her own interior ministers after he called for turning away all undocumented migrants at the German borders.

According to opinion polls, most German voters support the idea, and her critics have said Ms Merkel’s liberal approach to immigration has fuelled support for far-right populist parties.

Ms Merkel and Mr Macron are desperate to reach a Europe-wide response to the crisis, to ease the burden on Italy, Greece, and other entry points form the Mediterranean, and to stop disquiet in the EU.

EU deals with Turkey and Italy have gone some way to reducing the number of new arrivals of refugees, but hundreds of people still attempt to cross from Libya each day.

Countries including Hungary and Poland have resisted or refused outright to take refugees under an EU quota system.

France is hoping for a renewal of the ‘Dublin’ rules, but chances seem slim.

The agreement means migrants have to apply for asylum in the first country that they enter and has meant France can defend its own efforts to stop people trying to cross the border from Italy to France.

But Paris is hoping to get Berlin’s agreement on increased funding for the EU’s Frontex border force, harmonised asylum rules and the creation of asylum processing centres in Africa.

“We’re hoping to obtain a maximum of agreements on Tuesday, and in late June,” a source in the French presidency has said.