Italian Prime Minister and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have been speaking after their summit which covered several subjects including the flood of migrants from North Africa.

The Italian PM revealed the two leaders have launched a joint appeal to Syria to end violence against demonstrations in the country.

As expected the two leaders said the Schengen treaty, which removes many European Union border controls, should be modified temporarily to allow countries to deal with exceptional circumstances.

The flow of migrants to southern Italy had raised tensions between the two countries in the lead up to this summit.

“We want Schengen to live, but for Schengen to live it must be reformed,” President Sarkozy told reporters.