Germany and France have agreed that the European Union, facing a slew of migrant crises, should impose binding quotas on the numbers member states take in, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.

"I spoke this morning with the French president, and the French-German position, which will transmit to the European institutions, is that we agree that ... we need binding quotas within the European Union to share the burden. That is the principle of solidarity," Merkel told reporters during a visit in the Swiss capital.