ROME – Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s representative for foreign affairs told members that the proposed plans for the integration of migrants must be upheld. These comments have come after calls by French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls to scrap the quota system.

 "Sharing the responsibility of what we do with the people we save is an integral part of the (EU migrant) strategy,” said Mogherini on Monday. "I expect the member States, those same member States that asked the EU to act speedily and effectively, allow Europe to be effective in every aspect of this initiative - in the naval operation, in the saving of lives at sea and in the management of the people we save.”

 It has been widely reported that EU member states will be asked to take a quota of up to 20,000 migrants due to the increasing crisis affecting the Mediterranean. These plans were put in place in response to growing strain being placed on Italy and Greece in particular, but many other EU countries are unhappy with the European Commission’s initiative.

 Over the weekend, the Prime Minister of France, Manuel Valls travelled to the town of Menton near the French and Italian border to reiterate the country’s stance on immigration.

 “I am against the introduction of quotas for migrants. This has never been in line with French proposals,” said Valls. “Asylum is a right granted by international standards applied to all countries of the European Union. It is also for this reason that the number of beneficiaries cannot be the subjected to quotas.”