With Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel facing a rebellion in her coalition at home over asylum, the declaration is part of her larger bid to reach consensus ahead of the summit and stave off internal political threats to unseat her.

This includes meeting French president Emmanuel Macron at a government residence outside Berlin and issuing a declaration that also takes on board some of his ambitions on the eurozone budget.

They want the new budget, designed for its 19 member states, to launch in 2021, to include creating a parallel budget.

It also means turning Europe's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), into a European monetary fund where struggling EU states can obtain loans.

"We are working to make sure that the eurozone budget will be used to strengthen investment, also with the aim of strengthening convergence within the eurozone," said Merkel.

New 'EU Security Council'?

Other novelties include creating an "EU Security Council" and to start using majority voting among EU states to crack deadlocks in areas of foreign policy.

The announcement follows a separate agreement, also signed Tuesday, for France to take the lead on building next generation combat fighters with Germany.

On migration, the two are pursuing previously stated demands to create tougher policing of the EU's external border in what appears to be, in part, a reference to an European Commission plan to finance a corps of 10,000 border guards.

But they also reference the EU-Turkey statement, which cut the number of mainly Syrian refugees from travelling to the Greek islands, as an example of "cooperation and partnership" that could inspire other deals "to avoid departures to Europe".

They warn that unilateral moves by EU states to tackle migration flows could also threaten the Schengen passport-free travel area and end up increasing migration into Europe.

"Unilateral, uncoordinated action will split Europe, divide its peoples and put Schengen at risk," says the declaration.

Instead they push for a coordinated European approach, one that has so far proven elusive given the overall fallout of the Dublin asylum reforms and flat-out rejection by Hungary and others to accept relocated asylum seekers.

The two EU leaders also agree to work for the European commission to have less commissioners than there are Member States – as foreseen in the Lisbon Treaty, and to put in place transnational lists for European elections as of 2024.